Three US student footballers die in a week (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

A student in New York state who died on Wednesday became the third US high school footballer to die playing the game in the last week.
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Two 17-year-old players collapsed and died after a warm-up and a game in North Carolina and Alabama on Friday.

In the past decade, 12 high school athletes died on average every year playing football.

A recent study by the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research at the University of North Carolina found that over the past decade, three died directly due to "participation in the fundamental skills of football" - for example through spine fracture or head injury.

Another nine on average died from indirect causes due to the exertion, such as from heat stroke or an undiagnosed medical condition, or from complications due to a non-fatal injury.
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more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29463130

[uppityperson]

1. k&r for arrrrgggghhhh.

[In_The_Wind]

2. Do we really NEED football?

[JI7]

4. i sure don't

[JEFF9K]

3. Football could be made a lot safer without losing its appeal.

For example, tackles could involve actual "tackling" rather than "hitting."

[Barack_America]

5. Track athletes die too.

Intense physical exertion is not without it's consequences, particularly when there is an underlying genetic risk.

[Sheepshank]

6. ban sports and use bubble wrap instead

http://www.stopsportsinjuries.org/media/statistics.aspx

OR we could focus on my pet peeve and that is permitting 16 year old new drivers to use the freeway. 1000's of deaths could be avoided by simply keeping new drivers off the freeway, gain some driving spatial-speed experience, even if only for a year.

[yellowwoodII]

7. Only six people care about this at DU?

Three high school football players died in a week. This post only got six replies? Three dead cats would get more response. This is sad.

[liberal_at_heart]

8. yes, lets's keep them in a bubble so they never get hurt.

Whether they are playing an organized sport or playing with friends in a local park, kids get hurt. We should try and make sports as safe as it can be, but we cannot prevent every injury or every death.