Sad Day

Every year this seems to happen. Every single year some player gets ill in the off-season during some kind of conditioning, and year after year, someone passes away. Today, a University of Central Florida freshman wide receiver, Ereck Plancher died during off-season conditioning. The team had spent the morning lifting weights and had gone on a "10 minute run" according to Keith Tribble the Athletic director at UCF. After this the team had a quick little chat, and then Planther dropped to one knee and collapsed. The training staff attended to him, however after providing CPR for the young man, he was rushed to the hospital and was pronounced dead at around noon today. Plancher, who was 5'10 and 184 pounds, was a two time letterman back in high school, in Naples, Florida. He had not played a down for the Knights.

Plancher was a burner. In high school he was the speediest wide receiver on his team. He lived his life fast, according to his high school football coach, Chris Metzger. He was always speeding through life, either working out, taking care of his 10 year old brother, or working on his school work. Metzger called him the type of man you want your daughter to marry. That's pretty high praise. Metzger said that Plancher gave 110% in everything in he did. He never smoke or drank and was well liked by many (http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/mar/18/ereck-plancher-i-have-never-seen-anyone-him/).

This is becoming a trend. According to ESPN, "High-temperature training has become an issue in college football after the 2001 deaths of Eraste Autin of Florida, Devaughn Darling of Florida State and Rashidi Wheeler of Northwestern. Also, South Florida running back Keeley Dorsey fatally collapsed in January 2007 while lifting weights at the school's athletic facility," (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3300159). However, in this case weather was not the issue. It was a beautiful 78 degrees in Central Florida today, and there was not a high level of humidity. However, the weather is not the issue.

The issue, whether its weather related or not, truly is that these teams are pushing their players too hard. From offensive lineman Korey Stringer of the Minnesota Vikings in 2001, to pitcher Steve Bechler of the Baltimore Orioles in 2003, players are trying to make a name for themselves. They want to become stars and become that go to guy and give everything they have, and in some cases more than they have. Obviously something needs to be done about this. It is hard to say exactly what should be done, but some kind of precaution should be taken to make sure these students/professional athletes are not over exerting themselves in an effort to show off for their teams. Seriously, these players are doing everything they can to stand out to the team and are doing so at the risk of themselves. Teams should be held accountable if a player collapses during a workout or a practice. These players aren't collapsing during every day activities, and so obviously something isn't right.

In the end, today we should remember a young student athlete, whose career had just begun. Plancher's entire life was ahead of him, and now he will never get the chance to graduate from college or have children one day. Sports are fun and entertaining, but we must remember that these atheletes lives must come first, and that every precaution must be taken to make sure that they understand that their personal well-being must ALWAYS come first. RIP Ereck Plancher.