The Rise of Heat-Related Football Deaths

According to a news release from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in 2006, heat related deaths among football players reached their highest total since 1972.

Seven football players died from heat stroke in 1972, compared to five football players dying from heat stroke in 2006. In addition to the five football players who died from heat stroke, seven more football players died from "heart-related deaths that may or may not have been related to heat or exertion."

An exercise and sports science professor at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, Fred Mueller, assembled the list of heat related deaths as part of the Annual Survey of Football Injuries. The Annual Survey of Football Injuries (formally known as The Annual Survey of Football Fatalities) began in 1931 with its main mission of making the game of football more safe for its players.

Heat stroke is a life-threatening, but preventable, condition which occurs when the body is unable to cool itself. Mueller explains, "Physical activity raises players' temperatures higher than normal ... when body temperatures rise to 103 or 104, the brain's hypothalamus loses its ability to regulate the heat. The heart beats faster to increase blood flow to the skin to aid in evaporation, leaving less blood in the heart and other muscles. Brain death begins around 106 degrees, but death from heat stroke can be gradual, taking three or four days while organs begin to fail."

Beyond awareness of the condition, Mueller offers the following suggestions to aid in preventing heat stroke:

Know which kids are more at risk to heat strokes by requiring athletic physicals and learning risk factors such as having a history of heat related illness, being overly competitive, being new to practicing in the heat, and/or being overweight.

Slowly acclimatize football players to the heat. For instance, North Carolina requires practicing without uniforms the first three days.

Provide unlimited cold water before, during and after football practice.

Use a sling psychrometer to keep trakc of the day's humidity; if over 78 degrees, change manner of practice.