USA TODAY US Edition

How to reduce deaths on football practice fields

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You can add the name Jordan McNair to the list of college, high school and middle school players who might have needlessly died for the love of football.

A simple, well-known procedure — immersing McNair, 19, in a tub of ice water — when he collapsed at an offseason University of Maryland workout in May could well have saved his life. But it didn’t happen. This failure drew national attention to how unprepared many football programs are to keep their players safe.

The focus on concussion­s can obscure the deaths that continue to occur each year. Last year, 13 high school and college players died from incidents that include heat stroke, head injuries and sudden cardiac arrest.

Just two weeks ago in Crowley, Texas, Kyrell McBride-Johnson, 13, collapsed at a middle school practice and died that night. His mother told The Dallas Morning News that he was signaling for water before collapsing. An autopsy has not been completed, but the death of anyone so young raises troubling questions.

At too many schools and colleges, player safety comes in a poor second to winning. And even as the climate warms, colleges, high schools and middle schools are starting football season earlier than they used to.

Five decades ago, Notre Dame and Michigan opened their seasons on the third Saturday of September and Ohio State on the fourth Saturday. This year, spurred by longer seasons and lucrative TV schedules, all three teams played their first game Sept. 1, necessitat­ing practices in midsummer heat. High schools and middle schools mimic the college schedules. (In 1968, the NFL season began on Sept. 14; this year, it kicks off this Thursday.)

Starting the season later could by itself reduce the number of heat stroke deaths. But even with the current schedule, schools know how to prevent potentiall­y fatal incidents and to rescue students if they occur. In 2013, more than a dozen leading sports medicine groups and the National Federation of State High School Associatio­ns endorsed a list of best practices to prevent injuries and save lives. Many of the policies are based on common sense and carry minimal costs, such as purchasing a cold-water immersion tub for about $150.

Grading states against that list and other smart practices, the University of Connecticu­t’s Korey Stringer Institute found that 28 states have failed to put in place half the measures to keep students safe. Even the states that scored highest in the 2018 study — New Jersey and North Carolina — have less than 80% in place. California and Colorado, with the worst records, employ less than a third of them.

That’s inexcusabl­e. If schools have the wherewitha­l to run football programs, they have the wherewitha­l to do more to ensure that students don’t die.

 ?? SOURCE National Center for Catastroph­ic Sport Injury Research ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ/USA TODAY ??
SOURCE National Center for Catastroph­ic Sport Injury Research ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ/USA TODAY

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