Unsupervised Proctor football drill yields broken leg, lawsuit
July 10, 2010 at 7:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
The mother of the injured player said coaches’ negligence prior to a 2008 practice led to his injury.
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Unsupervised Proctor football drill yields broken leg, lawsuit
23 Comments
Am I missing something here? Where is the personnal responsiblility for the boys actions? The coach didn’t cause the injury, the school district didn’t cause the injury? While the injury is unfortunate that alone doesn’t mean that you have to find someone to blame and to pay for your mistake or accident. Sorry, can’t side with the high school football player or his family on this.
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What a great lesson for the kids, huh?
1. Never ever accept personal responsibility for your own actions.
2. You can sue anybody for anything. Do it.
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I am a graduate of Proctor High School and was around the team and played for Proctor from 1975 – 1979, and in 1980 scouted for the team while in college, I have never heard of the “fight circle” so I don’t know how long of a tradition this has been. Maybe I’m too old. It can’t be that long of a tradition. Now, to the injury, it is unfortunate, but football is a collision sport and injuries happen. Parents suing over injuries flies in the face of team unity, competition, and their desire to become a better football team by working out with each other outside of organized practices. I just couldn’t see this happening when I came through school. We had pickup hockey games all the time and there were some injuries and I can’t ever remember any parent suing ever. In this litigious society, it’s sad it has come to this. I hope this won’t be a deterrent to young people in the future wanting to better themselves athletically.
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When I played (not at Proctor) we had “Circle of Death”. One person in the middle “chopping” their feet and having to scan for who to block. If these are comparable circumstances this kid must have femurs made of balsa wood.
This crap just goes to show the amount of pampering parents we have these days. Football isn’t chess. You can get hurt. It is a violent sport that teaches both mental/physical toughness and how to work together for one common goal.
Unlike this lady who’s showing her son to whine, cry and call lawyers.
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Sounds like someone has some pretty high expectations of the coaches in Proctor.
They are supposed to supervise things that they aren’t even aware are taking place?
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It sounds like to me high school kids screwing around prior to practice…if its true the coaches didn’t have any idea how can you hold the school responsible for it. You know what was done most of the time prior to practice…oh yeah streching….if the kids aren’t doing what they are supposed to do I think it should fall on them (the student athletes) not the coaching staff nor the school. Half the time the coaches are teachers at schools within Proctor and they have lesson plans or extra curricular school work stuff to wrap up prior to coming over to the Practice facility. This should not be the head coaches issue…yes he can “lay down the law” going forward but in NO way should the coach/Proctor School District be responsible.
In my estimation all this boils down to is the lack of quality parenting in our society…….seems like we have a lot of troubled kids these days and by looking into the parents ..typically there is a dead give away why they are the way they are.
Another thing get a Govenor in Minnesota that cares about Education…the lack of effort and monetary support is disgusting…. maybe then things will change for the better. I think the students these days are getting a short stick…and Im sure our test results compared to other countries will show that.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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I played in Proctor, and also coached for several years after.
My experience with Proctor Football was always positive. Players knew their Proctor Football experience was special, so much so that they willingly arrived early and stayed late on the field to work on footwork, hand-offs, tackling technique, kicking, and the list goes on and on. Some of us so much valued and appreciated this as an opportunity for personal growth and friendship development, that we brought bagged lunches to summer practices so we didn’t have to leave the field during the lunch break.
During this time, it wasn’t all business. Some of the guys were dared to eat frogs. And they did. Sometimes we’d play touch football with our helmets off and it would turn into a tackle game. Sometimes we got hurt goofing around. That’s price we paid for goofing around. If someone would have concocted a disease from eating the from, that would have sucked a lot, but it surely would not have been the fault of anyone but the person eating the frog.
We were taught and we preached that success was dependent on learning the fundamentals and doing them well. We were taught that to be early was to be on time, to be on time was to be late, and to be late was to be forgotten.
We never, not a single time, engaged in any “Circle of Death” activity.
Football is rough, I’ve seen femurs protruding from thighs and athletic trainers puking when they saw it. I’ve seen twisted ankles make really tough guys cry. And I’ve even seen broken legs.
This is one of those unfortunate situations where that happened. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. It’s part of the game. The judge should dismiss the case and let everyone move on with their lives.
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It’s football. People get hurt. Deal with it.
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Seriously, do you really see ANYTHING involving politics in this article?
If you want a political argument, join a political forum.
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I wouldnt jump out of an airplane without a parachute. Maybe people without Health Insurance shouldnt play sports that they could get injured in.
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Then he should not be in sports. Period. Even in golf you run a risk of screwing up your back or turning an ankle.
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Football is a pretty spendy sport to participate in. One would think that people that can afford it could also afford insurance. No way to really know for sure though.
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Who knew you could break a leg in football…..wow. The sport should definately be more regulated and probably only played by adults who’ve attended classes about the dangers of football before hand.
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Sports like football and even basketball are contact activities where accidental injuries happen without warning. My sister’s front teeth were knocked out by a flying elbow, during a basketball game. She broke fingers on numerous occasion. My hubby is an avid football fan and former player, and he tells his boys, “Football is not for pansies, if you are afraid to get hurt, join the pep band.”
The outcome of this may change the face of school acitivity availability. If they determine that some adult must be ever-present, and overlooking EVERY activity a student gets involved with, they pretty much will have to shut down the school. There isn’t a single moment of the day that someone somewhere on that campus isn’t doing something UNSUPERVISED.
Furthermore, as a parent, I am well aware that injuries happen no matter who is in charge or NOT. I am not going to sue the school because my kid got hurt in an informal practice session with his teammates. They spend half the summer playing around…before they even step foot on the practice field with their coaches, they practice drills similar to what it on the field and also devise their own.
What is the true purpose of the suit and how much money is involved here? If it’s to change a policy, she could have worked with athletics and the district without the lawyer. If it’s to get money, how much? To pay the bills, or put him thru medical school? It almost looks like the kid’s unfortunate accident is being pimped.
How embarrassing for the boy…broke his leg practicing with his teammates, then his mother sues his school while he’s still in it. it doesn’t do much for popularity, does it?
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What cracks me up is the people thumbs-downing common sense posts such as these are probably the parents who would probably encapsulate their children in bubble wrap if they could afford to buy enough in bulk.
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You got it Peter. Some people (not all) are just plain dumb.
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You do and I’m a charter member.
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Maybe its time for the schools to purchase insurance for its students that participate in sports and take the cost of that insurance and spread it out to the parents of kids who play. I for one wouldnt be too thrilled because i have insurance but can a school system really afford to pay out these ridiculous law suits every time a kid gets hurt and the parent sees dollar signs? A lawsuit will affect more than just the athletics of the system, it will hurt the fiscal shape of the whole school system.
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Some schools already require a supplemental accident insurance policy for kids playing sports. My kid’s school has it available and it isn’t that costly, but it’s not a requirement to play ball. It shouldn’t just be for sports, either, as a couple kids found out in my chemistry class years ago, after they blew it up and received some chemical burns. Many classes have hands on learning…meaning accidents are bound to happen. Parents need to exercise good judgement and understand the risks of injury. Knees to get blown out…ankles broken, etc.
First and foremost, it’s the PARENT(s) that are responsible to cover the healthcare needs of the child, either by securing their own insurance, or applying for CHIP(remember that cig-tax?), medicaid/Mn care, if they can’t afford it. There is no valid excuse that I am willing to accept, to explain why a kid goes without coverage from some source. If one ends, another should be applied for immediately, but it is NOT the schools place to do this. Shame on any parent that doesn’t do everything they can to make darn sure their kid is covered in one way or another, there are a variety of options available.
They already usurp enough parenting duties, I am not willing to allow them the reigns to control my child’s healthcare enrollment. Like vaccinations, etc, they could deny a child participation if certain requirements are not met, but it’s not their place to be footing the bill or signing the line on my child’s policy. They do not have the legal right to sign the waiver to view or make medical decisions on my child’s behalf unless I give expressly give it to them.
On the issue of medical expense…if she can file a suit, one of a few things have to happen, either the lawyer is sure of a win and waiting for a settlement to get paid, is doing it pro-bono, or she’s paid to have them on retainer. They hardly ever work for free.
It is because of lawsuits like this that class trips have been cancelled forever, that field trips consist of a safe walk around the block, and playgrounds now resemble a toddler’s environment with cushioned corners and safety knobs. My kids got hurt, they cried, I looked them over, dried their tears, put a bandaid on and sent them back out to play.
I don’t understand the point of trying to prove negligence. The coach could have been standing right there and the kid’s leg got broke anyway, during ANY tackle practice or game. Does that mean that the school wouldn’t be negligent if the coach was watching?
I think she’s got more of an issue with the name associated with the drill and sees it as opportunity to attack the school for some perceived gain she might get for her son.
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