News Release

Annual study reveals 23 football players died during 2001 season

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

(Embargoed) CHAPEL HILL -- Eight young U.S. football players, including seven in high school and one playing in a Pop Warner league, died last year as a direct result of injuries suffered on the field, a new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study shows.

Three other players died of heatstroke during the 2001 season, and 12 others died in ways not directly tied to the game but more from natural causes provoked by vigorous exercise.

The UNC faculty member who led the study called the heat-related deaths "just unbelievable" because 20 young men have died in that manner since 1995. Last year, one occurred in high school, one in college and one in the National Football League.

"We are concerned about all these deaths of course but especially those that resulted from heatstroke, which are almost always preventable," said Dr. Frederick Mueller, professor and chair of physical education, exercise and sport science. "Coaches, players and even parents need to remember how to prevent these tragedies, and that's not hard to do. The current rash of avoidable deaths is very much like the toll we used to see years ago before managers and other helpers started giving players water anytime they needed it."

Mueller, chairman of the American Football Coaches' Committee of Football Injuries, directs the UNC-based National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injuries. Every year, the center issues reports on deaths and severe injuries from amateur and professional sports.

Reports are based partly on newspaper stories from around the United States collected and submitted by about 150 volunteers who monitor sports accidents, along with information from the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Six of the "direct" deaths resulted from brain injuries, one from a fractured neck and one from a ruptured spleen. The study also revealed six cases of permanent paralysis from neck injuries, all among high school students, and two permanent brain injuries.

"Players need to be reminded often, especially by coaches, that the head has no place in football," Mueller said. "No player should make first contact with his head when blocking and tackling. That's against the rules, but more importantly, it's dangerous."

In 1968, 36 young men died after injuries in practices or in games. Mueller said. The drop in deaths directly attributable to football resulted from rule changes adopted in 1976 that prohibited using the head as the first point of contact while blocking and tackling.

Shorter practices and non-contact drills during which players don't wear helmets can help prevent heatstroke and reduce accidents, he said. Players should be allowed as much water as they want, and coaches should schedule regular cooling-off breaks.

Coaches and trainers ought to keep a close eye on temperature and humidity, especially in August and September, Mueller said. Practices can be held early or late in the day, and if it is too hot, coaches need to consider canceling them for a day or so until temperature and humidity drop.

"Players must be encouraged to tell adults if they don't feel good," he said. "They should never ever be made to feel unmanly or weak if they are having trouble. Although many coaches used to do that and thought it was the right thing, now we understand that's a potentially deadly prescription for disaster. We have all the tools and knowledge to prevent heatstroke fatalities."

Eight players died from heatstroke in 1970, the highest one-year total, he said. Before 1955, no heatstroke deaths were recorded among football players, he said. Few schools and homes had air conditioning, and thus it is likely players were better able to tolerate hot weather.

Mueller and other experts strongly recommend pre-practice physical examinations for boys -- and the small number of girls -- who want to play football. Such exams sometimes reveal hidden conditions that make heavy exertion hazardous. Parents should make sure their children are insured against catastrophic injury and that medical assistance is available during practices and games.

A Yale University faculty member began the yearly football death and injury survey in 1931. It moved to Purdue University in 1942 and has been at UNC since 1965. The American Football Coaches Association, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the National Federation of State High School Associations sponsor the study to make the game safer.

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Note: Mueller can be reached at (919) 962-5171.

By DAVID WILLIAMSON
UNC News Services


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