Monday, August 22, 2005
I Can Hazard A Guess
San Francisco offensive lineman Thomas Herrion, 23, collapsed and died shortly after an NFL pre-season game in Denver.That's been happening a little too frequently lately.
About three hours later, Aaron Salkin, a spokesman for the 49ers, confirmed that Herrion had died. The cause of death was not immediately known.During my brief career as a student trainer for a major college football program (1 year - Vanderbilt) We had one terrifying experience with heatstroke and dehydration. Back then there were little or no steroids, and body weights were 70 to 100 pounds lighter in linemen. The added stress placed on bodies by the drugs and the weight could, I think, go a long way towards explaining these deaths.
Football players, especially linemen, are in awful aerobic shape -- they are built for maximal short term exertion -- kind of like the old guy that dies "in the saddle" from a heart attack.
Personally, I think there ought to be a weight limit on linemen.
