11/21/24
February 27, 2007
Indoor football player dies after hit : A defensive back for Daytona Beach's minor league football team, who was knocked unconscious in a helmet-to-helmet block, died from a broken neck, according to a preliminary autopsy report.
posted by irunfromclones to football at 05:27 PM - 13 comments
It's a pretty small-time league, from what I've heard living near Daytona. The team's official story on the game mentions Caman's two interceptions but not the fact he died. Here's his MySpace page, where he called himself "Black Jesus."
posted by rcade at 06:01 PM on February 27, 2007
They re-started the game after one of the players died on the field?!?!? Who the fuck made that decision?
posted by dusted at 11:01 PM on February 27, 2007
They played on! I know it isn't totally clear that they knew he was dead on the pitch, but was declared on arrival, which means that they probably knew he was in a real bad way. Talk about messed up priorities.
posted by Fence at 04:04 AM on February 28, 2007
The equipment is standard in the NFL, Afl, NCAA, High school. What changes is the speed of the game. Whether you are in the NFL or Arena league you can die upon impact. Two players traveling at 15mph collide creates over 3/4 of a ton of pressure.
posted by coachhenry36 at 04:17 AM on February 28, 2007
They might not have known the poor guy was dead when they took him off the field, but any time you've got to perform ten minutes of CPR and various other lifesaving actions right there on the field, it should be pretty freakin' obvious to anybody that the gravity of the situation has just outweighed the value of continuing the game. That may be the longest sentence I've ever written. Sorry. Just got started, and couldn't stop. One of the most callous decisions I've ever seen in a sporting arena.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 04:58 AM on February 28, 2007
Fortunatley I have'nt seen the hit so I'm not up to speed on the tragedy but to continue the game is a GROSS disregard for human life. I can't remember but I think the game was cancelled when Hank Gathers collapsed. Common courtesy at minnimum should dictate this.
posted by rkrka-86 at 10:13 AM on February 28, 2007
I have been reading the posts on here about this subject, and being a person that has been playing professional Indoor/Arena football since 1999 there has been a few occasions in my career when the game is stopped because a player is hurt badly and needs medical attention. However the game does continue, I've played in a game when a player broke his neck, and the game continued after he was carted off to the hospital, he did not die though. For me, being a player when something like this happends its emotional, its emotional watching one of your teammates down there hurt like that and it could easily be you. Never seen or heard of a professional game stopped because of something like this, not football.
posted by AFLvet at 01:01 PM on February 28, 2007
I believe the operative phrase hear being: THE DUDE DIED, FERCHRISSAKES!! Not to overstate it or anything, but c'mon! Let's play Arena football tomorrow, whaddya say?
posted by THX-1138 at 01:09 PM on February 28, 2007
the players didn't know he passed until after the game
posted by AFLvet at 01:11 PM on February 28, 2007
Interesting perspective AFLvet. It is always interesting to read comments from users who have first hand knowledge. Which team do you play for?
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 02:23 PM on February 28, 2007
The game must go on. I'm not sure I believe its right, but guys die autoracing and I can't recall a race that was discontinued. So why would football be any different. If he is really black Jesus than he will be resurected in a few days anyway.
posted by Atheist at 03:21 PM on February 28, 2007
Actually, I feel very much the same way - though I find it hard to explain why I feel that way. There just seems to be something entirely justifiable in continuing on with the game. It's almost as if it's the best thing for everyone. Much like the theatre, the show must go on? Weak, but essentially accurate.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 04:12 PM on February 28, 2007
Does anyone know if this league's equipment is at a standard level comparable to the NFL, or would equipment have even made a difference?