While high-impact, full-speed hits appear to be the most dangerous part of football, the deadliest threat to college players is actually year-round strength and conditioning.
And with the NCAA landscape more competitive and more lucrative than ever, the demands on student athletes are increasingly intense. In fact, 30 college football players have died from non-contact workouts since 2000.
Amidst this spate of deaths, strength and conditioning coaches, who are tasked with taking high school boys and sculpting them into men, face limited NCAA oversight, and few repercussions when things go tragically wrong.
Pushing Players Too Far | Real Sports w/ Bryant Gumbel | HBO
Jordan McNair’s parents were promised the best care for their son while being on the University of Maryland’s football team. He is now one of 30 players who have died as a result of college football workouts since 2000. #RealSportsHBO #JordanMcNair Subscribe to the HBO YouTube Channel: https://goo.gl/JQUfqt Don’t have HBO?
With the recent death of University of Maryland offensive lineman Jordan McNair as the backdrop, and the continuing fallout from the incident that has devastated the college community in College Park, Maryland, HBO’s Real Sports correspondent Jon Frankel looks at the dangers of college football workouts and the rise of the games newest stars, strength and conditioning coaches.
The episode airs tonight, Tuesday, September 25th at 10:00 PM, EST.
