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For all its machoism -- or is it masochism? -- football had never really
included death among its possible occupational hazards. It seems patent in
retrospect that of the thousands of men who work themselves sick in the hot
summer months to prepare for the gridiron season, a handful might not make it to
September. Entering 2001 there had been 18 such deaths among high school and
college players since 1995, but until Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Korey
Stringer, 27, died of heatstroke following a workout on July 31 (a day after he
had to be carted off the field due to heat exhaustion) to become the NFL's first
training camp fatality, not enough people had given much thought to the risk. In
the aftermath of three other high-profile football deaths -- Florida State
linebacker Devaughn Darling most likely of cardiac arrhythmia in February,
Florida fullback Eraste Autin of a heart attack on July 25 and Northwestern
safety Rashidi Wheeler of asthma complications on Aug. 3 -- the Stringer saga
forced the pro and college games to put their training programs under the
microscope. Following Stringer's death, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue ordered
all 31 teams to review their training camp rules and safety procedures. The
families of Darling, Wheeler and Stringer have either filed or plan to file
lawsuits accusing the teams and their medical staffs of various degrees of
negligence. At a minimum the deaths and resulting litigation should lead teams
to consider shorter practices, more responsible hydration and more vigilant
medical surveillance during workouts. Would that they also lead players and
coaches to reconsider what, on a sweltering summer's day, is the measure of a
man.
--Jamal
Greene
Don Banks: Moving farewell
Frank Deford: End Game
Tim Layden: Conditioning drills need reevaluating
Video Box: The Vikings pay final respects to Stringer 
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Photographs by Tom Olmscheid/AP, Stephen J. Carrera/AP, Craig Litten/AP
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