7 football deaths at middle and high schools in one month prompt warnings: “Protect your children”

The football-related deaths of seven middle and high school students in August alone are prompting warnings from parents and others to take sports safety measures more seriously.

The seven dead include 13-year-old Cohen Craddock of West Virginia, 16-year-old Caden Tellier of Alabama, 15-year-old Jayvion Taylor of Virginia, 14-year-old Semaj Wilkins of Alabama, 15-year-old Robert James Gillon III of Florida, 16-year-old Leslie Noble of Maryland and 15-year-old Ovet Gomez-Regalado of Maryland.

The circumstances of death range from heat stroke to chest pain to head injuries.

“I refer to him as Mr. Personality, a great kid who wanted to be liked by everyone. He just wanted to be happy,” Cohen's father, Robert Craddock, told Fox News Digital about his son. “He loved sports, hunting and fishing, was a very social person and very church-going. Just a great, great kid, I couldn't be more proud of him as a father.”

West Virginia middle school football player dies of head injury during practice

Robert Craddock said Cohen was entering his sophomore year as a football player when he suffered a fatal head injury during practice on August 23.

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“He was at football practice, just a normal practice. Another kid was making a block. Cohen tripped and fell to the ground. When he hit the ground, his head hit the ground. And that caused the head injury that ultimately led to his death,” Robert explained, later adding that he “never believed” he could end up in the situation he is in now.

“It’s hard for me to understand this,” said the grieving father.

14-year-old from Alabama dies after collapsing during football practice: “He just had a love for the sport”

Since his son's death, Robert has made it his mission to get football teams to mandate that their players wear Guardian Caps, padded covers for football helmets. Robert said the caps don't alter the helmets themselves, but provide an additional layer of protection.

“Protect your kids at all costs,” he said when asked if he had any advice for other parents whose children play football. “Whether it's trying harder, talking to the coaches about different techniques … or buying yourself the Guardian Caps, let's do everything in our power to protect our kids.”

On the same day that Cohen was injured, Tellier also suffered a head injury in the third quarter of his team's winning game against Southern Academy in Selma, Alabama. He died the next day.

“Our boy Caden Tellier has come to know Jesus face to face. We appreciate all of your prayers and ask for them for the difficult days ahead,” Caden's mother, Arsella Slagel Tellier, wrote in a Facebook post last month. “Everyone who knows Caden has experienced kindness, generosity and love, and true to his nature, he gives of himself once again. His life touched lives, and now lives are being saved through his death. We will walk by his side in his earthly body for the next few days, knowing that his spirit rejoices in heaven.”

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Georgia law firm Wetherington says the seven teen deaths in August “raised concerns about the safety of youth football and calls for better equipment, better training and more awareness of the risks of extreme heat.” The firm offers legal representation to families affected by such tragedies.

Attorney Matt Wetherington, the firm's founder, said high school football is “still the Wild West” when it comes to mandating safety measures to protect kids from life-altering or fatal injuries. He explained that coaches – and more broadly school boards and districts – are failing to implement necessary protections for children, even when they are state-mandated, such as those already in place in Georgia, including the Georgia Return to Play Act, the Heat Safety Guidelines and the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act.

“Foodball is, of course, sacred in Georgia,” Wetherington said, but it’s not “special” in the sense that school districts and boards go to great lengths to provide more safety measures and awareness for students and parents, despite the dangers posed by this physical sport.

“They are required by law to ensure compliance with safety protocols, such as providing cooling stations, emergency plans and readiness to provide immediate medical care. Failure to do so can result in preventable injuries or deaths,” he added.

Marty McNair, father of 19-year-old Jordan McNair of Randallstown, Maryland, who collapsed and died of heat stroke during football practice in 2018, is working to help other families prevent similar tragedies. McNair was a player for the University of Maryland at the time.

“As a father who tragically lost my son Jordan to a preventable heat-related injury on the football field, my sincere condolences go out to the families who have endured the unimaginable pain of losing their children in recent tragedies. I know the devastation firsthand, and no parent should ever have to suffer such a loss,” McNair said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

He added that his “advice to parents as we head into the fall 2024 football season is to always put their child's safety first.”

“Be proactive about the safety measures in place where your child plays. Ask questions about hydration protocols, heat management and emergency plans. Make sure your child knows they can speak up if they feel uncomfortable or unsafe on the field. Teach them that their health is much more important than any game,” he said. “At the Jordan McNair Foundation, we are here to help parents, athletes and coaches be better equipped with the knowledge and tools to prevent these tragedies. Losing Jordan changed my life, and our mission is to make sure no other family has to go through what we went through. Stay involved, stay informed and most importantly, make sure your child knows their safety comes first – always.”

The National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research reported a total of 16 football-related deaths in 2023. Nine of these 16 victims attended middle or high school.

During the months of July and August of the last three academic years, there were six football deaths in 2021, three in 2022 and two in 2023, according to NCCSIR statistics.

Among middle and high school students, traumatic deaths (head injuries, spinal injuries, etc.) accounted for four deaths in 2019, zero deaths in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, four deaths in 2021, three deaths in 2022, and two deaths in 2023. According to NCCSIR, exertional deaths (including heat stroke, cardiac arrest, sickle cell anemia, etc.) among middle and high school students accounted for nine deaths in 2019, seven in 2020, 11 in 2021, five in 2022, and five in 2023.

Table IV shows heat stroke deaths by year, and there are years with high numbers, like 5 and 6, just not in the last decade. July and August obviously have the most deaths, so the 3 we have recorded so far this year in middle/high school is similar to 2020 (4) and 2021 (3).

While all 50 states have laws to prevent sports-related concussions, laws to prevent heat stroke are less common. States that have such heat stroke prevention laws include Florida, Texas, California, New Jersey, and North Carolina.

Source of the original article: 7 football deaths at middle and high schools in one month prompt warnings: “Protect your children”