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ers and coaches began to realize the true dangers of pushing athletes to the brink in extreme heat, following the nationally publicized deaths of Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Korey Stringer and Northwestern University defensive back Rashidi Wheeler.
Since then, coaches and trainers have made a push toward preventing these incidents and keeping athletes hydrated.
It’s a far cry from the days of Paul “Bear” Bryant, who in 1954 took 110 Texas A&M football players to Junction, Texas, with the goal of weeding out the weak ones. In the sweltering Texas sun, Bryant put his college players through rugged and intense workouts, where to beg for water was seen as a sign of weakness. Bryant returned from the 10-day outing with less than three dozen players.
“It’s not like the old days where they’d feed us salt tablets and deny us water,” Coach Williams said. “We’re lucky we all didn’t die back then because modern technology has showed us exactly what we need to do to keep these kids hydrated. We didn’t know that 30 years ago.”
Statistics show that there have been 31 heat-related deaths on the football field since 1995. Five of those occurred last year, including 16-year-old Stafford County offensive lineman Joey Roberson. The 2006 total was the highest in almost 20 years.
“Coaches, athletes and parents should be aware that all fall sports could lead to heat-related deaths if precautions aren’t taken,” said Fred Mueller, a professor of exercise and sports science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “All of these
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