The North American game of football needs to die before it kills more people. The 2019 season is barely underway, and already the toll of injuries, deaths, concussions, hazing, and rapes are too many to count.
The damage done to children is criminal. All that coaches and parents care about is “the game”, not the kids’ long term health. They’re never told the risks when they sign up, only that they should “man up” and “be a winner”.
What galls me almost as much is the cowardice of “fans” who talk tough about what players should do while never facing the risk themselves. And the few who have played football undoubtedly played at a much lower competitive level (e.g. 200 pound linemen running a 6 second 40 yard dash).
Hazing, Violence and Sexual Assault:
Gilroy High School in California has cancelled their season. Several players were suspended for sexually assaulting teammates. For any of several reasons (loss of “team leaders”? accountability? shortage of players? a 0-4 record?), the players have decided to stop playing.
Several players at a Cleveland high school have been suspended for sexual assault. Mano Singham isn’t going to like this one.
Records: Hazing at Ohio football camp, which included sexual assault, leads to teens being charged
CLEVELAND (AP) — Eleven Cleveland-area high school football players were victims of hazing at a camp in June, including four who were sexually assaulted by teammates, court records show.
Authorities say the assaults and hazing occurred during a Berea-Midpark (Ohio) High School football camp held at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
An 18-year-old student was indicted Wednesday as an adult on charges that include rape, sexual battery, kidnapping, hazing, unlawful restraint, evidence tampering and obstructing justice.
Several New Hampshire high school football players were filmed committing an act of animal cruelty. They were laughing and thought it was fun, but the duck didn’t and neither did the public.
High school football players beat duck to death
A group of New Hampshire high school football players was captured in a sick video beating a duck with a broomstick then strangling it to death, according to new reports.
Several student-athletes who attend Kennett High School in North Conway were suspended from upcoming football games after video emerged of the animal being killed at a training camp in late August, news station WMUR reported.
Footage showed the teammates luring ducks out of the water before one of the players hit the animal over the head. The animal was later strangled to death, the Conway Daily Sun reported.
Concussions:
A high school coach in Utah cancelled (and thus forfeited) a game because 20 of his 54 players were injured. Something is inherently wrong with a “sport” where a third of a team cannot play due to “normally occurring injuries”. The team may have to forfeit other upcoming games. To add insult to injury (definitely no pun intended), the team is being fined for the other team’s lost revenues.
Utah high school football coach forfeits game because of rash of injured players
A Utah high school football coach decided to forfeit his team’s game after his team was decimated by a rash of injuries.
As reported by Utah CBS affiliate KUTV, Will Hawes, the head coach of Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake City decided to forfeit his team’s scheduled game against Morgan (Utah) High School because his team was too beset with injuries to compete safely.
In total, some 20 members of Judge Memorial’s 54-man varsity roster were injured leading into the scheduled game. Of those 20 players out, three were linemen who suffered concussions.
“We just had too many experienced players hurt, and it wasn’t a concussion issue — concussions didn’t help it — but that added to our decision,” Hawes told KUTV.
“(The players) weren’t happy about it — they were quite disappointed — but the main thing was they understood. … The game is not more important than the kids’ future, their brains, their injuries, their health, and we’re going to protect our kids at all costs before anything else.”
The story from the other team’s side:
rep roundup: Morgan football game canceled
Morgan High’s undefeated football team is getting a second bye week this week after Judge Memorial Catholic High informed Morgan on Wednesday that it wouldn’t be able to field a varsity-level team this Friday.
The game goes down as a forfeit with Morgan getting a 1-0 “win,” the score according to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) rulebook.
MHS athletic director Kade Morrell wrote in an email that a Judge Memorial representative called him to ask that the game be canceled and that the Bulldogs would forfeit.
JMC athletic director Scott Platz said in an email that Judge has numerous injuries to varsity-level players, and the school didn’t want to put younger kids at the varsity level and in harm’s way just to field a varsity team.
A child has suffered bleeding on the brain after a cheap shot with a helmet. I can find no update on his condition.
Illegal hit sends high school football player to hospital with brain bleed
A Vacaville Christian High School (California) football player who was on the receiving end of an illegal hit was in the hospital Sunday with his family and teammates by his side.
“I looked over and saw him hit the ground and we could tell instantly what happened,” said Falcons co-captain Ian Peixoto. “Like, he was, like he was hurt.”
“(He) came in and hit Jack with an illegal head-to-head,” said Jack Worthan’s teammate, Anthony Delgado.
A player on the opposing team made helmet-to-helmet contact with 17-year-old Worthan.
Witnesses told KTXL that Worthan lay motionless on the football field Friday night during the first home game of the season. As paramedics rushed to help him, his teammates prayed from the sidelines.
As always, the “coach” is more concerned with winning the game than how badly the kid is hurt. His words:
“Everybody was upset,” said co-captain Gabe Helmer. “There was definitely some frustration but then after that, we rallied together.”
Deaths on the Field:
A thirteen year old child died during non-contact drills at a Michigan high school. Just how hard was that sadist coach forcing players to work out and run? Keep in mind that “non-contact drills” means not hitting other players. They may still be hitting sleds and tackling dummies.
Report: 7th-grader dies in Saranac after collapsing on football field
A 13-year-old football player at Saranac Jr/Sr High School who collapsed during drills has died, multiple news reports say.
According to WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, the boy was airlifted to a hospital where officials confirmed he later died.
A cause of death was not immediately available.
Saranac Community Schools said the incident happened Wednesday night during a non-contact drill.
A 16 year old child in Missouri died. Are they doing military drills or something?
Joplin (Mo.) High School football player collapses and dies at practice
A Missouri high school football player reportedly died after collapsing a team practice on Wednesday.
As reported by Springfield, Mo. news network KY3, Joplin (Mo.) High School football player Kaden Roberts-Day collapsed during the team’s practice on Wednesday. He was immediately transported to a local hospital but succumbed from the damage he suffered from his on-field collapse.
If Jacquez Welch had not played football, he might still be alive. Organ donations don’t make up for a dead kid. And “two way starter” means he was taking hits on offence and defence. How much damage did that cause?
Family of Florida high school football player Jacquez Welch to donate organs to save 7 lives
The family of a high school football player who has been confirmed brain dead has announced they plan to donate his organs to save seven other lives after he is removed from life support.
Jacquez Welch, a two-way starter at Tampa (Fla.) Northeast High School, collapsed after making a tackle during a Friday night football game against Osceola. He was later diagnosed with AVN, a condition characterized by an irregular connection between the arteries and veins in the brain which apparently caused him to suffer bleeding on the brain which in turn left him brain dead, according to Tampa ABC affiliate WFTS.
An 18 year old collapsed and died in West Virginia. No doubt at least one cretin asked, “did they win?”
High School Football Player Dies After Collapsing On Field
West Virginia school officials say a student has died after collapsing on the field during a football game.
Roane County High School has confirmed senior Alex Miller died Friday evening while playing a football game at Clay County High School. According to witnesses, football players were returning to the field to begin the second quarter when there was a call for emergency medical attention. The game was stopped and Miller was transported to a local hospital.
The game was initially suspended until Saturday after Miller’s collapse, but has now been postponed indefinitely.
In Oklahoma, two kids died nine days apart. And all anyone says in response is, “let’s win the next game for him!”
September 16th:
Oklahoma football player dies after collapsing on field
YUKON, Okla. – An Oklahoma football player died after collapsing on the field during a game Friday.
According to the Oklahoma Eight-Man Football Coaches Association, Peter Webb, a football player with Southwest Covenant, collapsed on the field Friday night and was rushed to the hospital.
The association says Webb was unconscious and had too much swelling on his brain to operate.
On Sunday, OU Med confirmed to News 4 that Webb had passed away.
September 25th:
Second Oklahoma football player dies following game in two weeks
A middle school football player in Oklahoma has died after competing in a game, the second teenager to do so in the state in a matter of weeks.
Lexington High School football coach Dale Berglan told the Oklahoman that Riley Boatwright died on Tuesday after playing a game in Stratford. Officials with the Lexington public schools district confirmed the death with KOCO-TV, Oklahoma City’s ABC affiliate. A cause of death has not been disclosed.