The news that 27 college football players have died in conditioning drills since 2001 deserved to be analyzed in blunt language. Sally Jenkins, a columnist for The Washington Post, was willing to oblige.
Writing about the University of Maryland’s recent acknowledgement of responsibility for the May death of 325-pound offensive lineman Jordan McNair, who collapsed after running sprints, Jenkins noted that in comparison, the NFL has had no heat-related fatalities since 2001.
Her question: “Why is the NCAA tolerating this kill rate, which is unmatched at any other level of football?”
Jenkins derided “the deranged college coaching mentality that drove McNair to the staggering point” — which also got Maryland head coach DJ Durkin put on administrative leave — and called the coach one of too many “lunatic, over-striving NCAA wannabes who are in such a big hurry to prove themselves big dogs.”
A medical specialist at the University of Connecticut told Jenkins that 40 college athletes in multiple sports have died since 2000 during conditioning sessions.
But not one has died during competition. This indicates colleges have the means to prevent such tragedies but are not using them properly.
One reason there have been no training deaths since 2001 in the NFL is because the players union and the league agreed to put limits on training camp practices, and teams have plenty of medical care available to deal with overheated players. But as the Connecticut specialist noted, NCAA players do not have a labor union watching out for their best interests.
That, in fact, is supposed to be the job of the coaching staff. Jenkins is absolutely right when she writes that too many college coaches “have antiquated notions of man-making and are completely unread in the latest sports science. ... Obviously, the medical fate of other people’s sons should not be in their hands. And yet there are few NCAA rules governing conditioning workouts or none mandating independent medical care for student-athletes.”
Demanding coaches long have been admired for turning boys into men — think of Bear Bryant and “The Junction Boys.”
They always make for great stories — until somebody dies. It is a reminder that one way to make a man is to make sure a boy doesn’t die on a practice field.
The NCAA and its member universities need to fix this, and quickly.
Otherwise a court — one of lawyers and judges; or one of public opinion — will do it for them.
