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 Marc MorehouseHi, I'm Marc Morehouse. I've covered sports for more than 15 years, mostly in Eastern Iowa. I've had Hayden Fry [...] |
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Ferentz statement: Five players released
Senior defensive back Jordan Bernstine was one of the 13 Hawkeyes hospitalized after an outbreak of rhabdomyolysis struck earlier this week after strenuous winter workouts. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz released a statement Friday saying five players had been released after nearly five days in the UIHC. (Gazette file)
Five University of Iowa football players were released from the hospital Friday afternoon, according to a UI release that included a statement from head football coach Kirk Ferentz.
“I am pleased to learn that five of the 13 members of the UI football team are being discharged from UI Hospitals and Clinics throughout this afternoon and evening,” Ferentz said in the release. ”I am very happy for these student-athletes and their families, and look forward to the release of the remaining student-athletes in the days ahead.”
This was the first public statement from Ferentz, who’s entering his 13th season as Iowa’s coach.
“I have been communicating with each student-athlete and their parents, or guardians, since learning they were admitted into the hospital,” Ferentz said. ”Members of the football staff have also been communicating daily with this group. This communication will continue until each student-athlete is able to resume their academic and athletic commitments.”
A source with knowledge of the situation told The Gazette the NCAA isn’t looking into the matter and doesn’t foresee that coming.
Ferentz’s silence on the matter has caused a storm in college football national media.
ESPN story
An anonymous parent told ESPN.com Friday that a strength coach told players in a meeting that the team didn’t finish games this season and “we’ll find out who wants to be here.” The Hawkeyes, who finished 8-5, collapsed in the fourth quarter of all five of their defeats.
The ESPN.com story shed some light on several questions about the 13 Hawkeye football players who spent nearly five days in the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics because of an outbreak of rhabdomyolysis suffered after winter workouts last week.
– The Sporting News reported Thursday night that the 13 players were tested for illegal drugs and those tests came back negative. ESPN.com cited a parent saying the results were negative.
Possibly because of The Sporting News report, the UIHC sent employees a reminder on HIPAA privacy laws early Friday. By Friday afternoon, hospital officials announced they are conducting an investigation after a proactive screening of the electronic medical records of the 13 University of Iowa football players indicated that some of those records may have been accessed inappropriately.
– Ferentz was at the UIHC on Thursday night after returning from a recruiting trip through Ohio and Michigan, a Gazette source confirmed. ESPN.com quoted a parent saying Ferentz was “blistered” for not returning sooner. This was confirmed Friday by a Gazette source.
“I believe he is devastated by all this. He has been wonderful. But his mistake was not coming off the road right away,” the parent told ESPN.com.
A source told The Gazette the general mood of the parents is they want the UI to be straightforward and they want to make sure there are safeguards to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Ferentz’s son, James, started at center for the Hawkeyes this season. Ferentz’s oldest son, Brian, also played center for the Hawkeyes (2003-05). During his time at Iowa, Brian nearly lost a leg to a staph infection.
“As the parent of both a current and former member of the team, the health and well-being of each student-athlete in our football program is paramount,” Ferentz said. “I will work with all of the individuals and groups that contribute to the welfare of our student-athletes to understand what led to this occurrence in order to make certain it does not happen again.”
– ESPN.com also reported that a parent said some players had gained “30 to 50 pounds” since entering the hospital because of the amount of fluids that have been forced into their bodies. Another parent told ESPN.com a player had sustained “20 to 30 loss of kidney function.”
Jordan Bernstine is one of the players who is in the UIHC. His brother, Keevon Bernstine, posted on his Facebook account Thursday that he was in Iowa City to check on Jordan and “he is fat as hell.”
No player has been on dialysis, according to sources.
Kidney dialysis would be a worse-case scenario with this rhabdomyolysis, but Dr. Bryan Becker, the immediate past president of the National Kidney Foundation and a physician at the University of Illinois-Chicago, said he wouldn’t anticipate the acute injury injury to be permanent and they likely would recover.
Five players in UIHC
Bernstine, a senior cornerback, is one of four players who’ve been hospitalized. Freshman linebacker Jim Poggi, sophomore linebacker Shane DiBona and senior cornerback Willie Lowe also were in the hospital. Senior defensive back Tom Donatell also is among the hospitalized, the Gazette has confirmed.
It’s not known if these five were among those released Friday.
WBZ-TV, the CBS affiliate out of Boston, reported that DiBona’s mother, Faith, arrived in Iowa City on Thursday night.
She told the station that Shane is “doing much better” and might be out of the hospital Saturday night. She also said the parents would meet with Ferentz and staff about what happened.
DiBona helped lead Duxbury High School to a state championship in 2008. WBZ-TV spoke to Duxbury coach Dave Maimaron.
“There’s an investigation and we’re relying on the physicians and professionals at the university to help understand it a little bit better,” Maimaron said. “Obviously, something went wrong and it’s unfortunate that 13 kids are in the hospital.”
NSAIDS, environment
Becker was asked about the possible role of Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (commonly referred to as NSAIDS) in this episode. Aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen are prominent NSAIDS.
“Medicines like that are marvellous for reducing muscle aches and pains,” Becker said. “In the setting of volume depletion or in the setting of kidney injury, such medications, but virtue of how they change bloodflow to the kidney, can exacerbate kidney injury.”
Becker also said, however, that he would have a hard time believing that 13 athletes would develop the same unique response to an NSAID.
Environmental factors, such as heat, also could’ve contributed to this, Becker said. He cited a study that showed rhabdomyolysis in military personnel in southern states due to excessive exertion under “very warm conditions.”
“Is environment a potential factor that can enhance the risk for muscle injury in this context, yes based on such studies,” Becker said.
The issue of hydration was covered during Wednesday’s news conference. Paul Federici, Iowa’s director of football operations, said opportunities for hydration are “limitless and widely available.”
The UI and Iowa Board of Regents announced Thursday that an investigation into events that led to the athletes’ hospitalization would be conducted over the next 90 days.
As for any commonalities to be drawn out of the weekend between these heavy workouts and the athletes’ hospitalization, Becker said “it would be inappropriate for me to speculate.”
“Certainly, if all of them were participating in the same activity over the weekend, someone who’s looking for a source of illness would focus on that,” he said, “given that they would’ve been both occupied in practice and then all done something similar, but I would defer to the people who have take their medical histories.”
The debate
Meanwhile, the national debate over this topic continued to rage.
“As a lawyer, I have to tell, in my opinion, you’re probably looking at some guys thinking about filing suit against the university,” ESPN college football analyst Rod Gilmore said Friday on ESPN’s “College Football Live.”
Gilmore went on to say, “He’s a good guy, we all like Kirk Ferentz. He’s a good coach, there’s no question about that, but he made some mistakes.” Gilmore listed oversight of the program and being on the road recruiting while 13 players were admitted to the UIHC.
The Iowa debate led the show and lasted nearly six minutes.
Several former Iowa players came to the defense of strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle, who, according to sources, is shaken over the incident.
“Stand behind Kirk and the program. I did Doyle’s workouts for 7 years in the NFL as well,” former Iowa defensive back Matt Bowen wrote on his Twitter account Friday.
NFL player agent Jack Bechta, who represents several former Iowa players now in the NFL, also tweeted, “Everyone of my Iowa clients I spoke with [showed] 110% supportive of coach Doyle and his program. they all did the same exact workout more than once.”
Bechta also said clients Tony Moeaki (former Hawkeye, now tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs) and Pat Angerer (UI linebacker now with the Indianapolis Colts) still train with Doyle in the offseason.
Adam Blalock, the co-director of Performance Sport & Speed in Coralville, part of Performance Therapies, also had high praise for Doyle.
“Other than this one instance, the way he’s run his program is ideal,” Blalock told The Gazette. ”When you want a job in this business, you put Doyle as a reference. If someone on the East Coast calls him about a strength coach and he says ‘Hire this guy,’ they hire him.”
No news conference has been scheduled with Ferentz, Doyle or athletics director Gary Barta, who was out of town this week. Ferentz has annually met with the media on national signing day, which is next Wednesday.
“I will work with all of the individuals and groups that contribute to the welfare of our student-athletes to understand what led to this occurrence in order to make certain it does not happen again,” Ferentz said in the statement.
___________
KIRK FERENTZ STATEMENT
IOWA CITY, IA – The following is statement issued today by University of Iowa Head Football Coach Kirk Ferentz.
“I am pleased to learn that five of the 13 members of the UI football team are being discharged from UI Hospitals and Clinics throughout this afternoon and evening. I am very happy for these student-athletes and their families, and look forward to the release of the remaining student-athletes in the days ahead.
“Our entire staff shares the concern expressed by University of Iowa President Sally Mason and President David Miles of the Iowa Board of Regents and the State of Iowa, for the well-being and continued recovery of every student-athlete treated at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
“I have been communicating with each student-athlete and their parents, or guardians, since learning they were admitted into the hospital. Members of the football staff have also been communicating daily with this group. This communication will continue until each student-athlete is able to resume their academic and athletic commitments.
“As the parent of both a current and former member of the team, the health and well-being of each student-athlete in our football program is paramount.
“I will work with all of the individuals and groups that contribute to the welfare of our student-athletes to understand what led to this occurrence in order to make certain it does not happen again.”
Hi Marc,
Thanks as always for your intelligent and measured reporting on controversial issues. You’ve had more opportunity than you wanted recently, I imagine…
Anyway, once this current issue has been resolved, perhaps you would be willing to review the coverage of it by ESPN, CBSsportsline, and others. Pat Forde, among others, has been outrageous in making unsubstantiated claims against the Iowa football program and coaches. He, along with the others, should be called out for that.
Having spent 10 years writing newspaper editorials and opinion columns, I have some knowledge and experience in this area. I do not appreciate the shoot first, ask questions later approach of the bloggers, but for “legitimate” media outlets to engage in such ignorant, unfair and biased coverage is unacceptable.
A recent AP report, for example, suggests that this workout incident is probably nothing more than bad timing. Thirteen kids came back from winter break after doing little to stay in shape and the workout was too much for them. When the inquiry is over, I suspect this will be the finding.
After all about 87 other Iowa players did the same workout with no ill effects… So rational minds might consider that, along with the evidence that Coach Doyle and Coach Ferentz are known to be among the most honest, ethical and caring coaches in the country.
Here’s an AP story worth noting:
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A doctor says 7 University of South Carolina swimmers came down with the same muscle disorder in 2008 that has led to the hospitalization of 13 Iowa football players and they may have simply been pushing their bodies too hard after a break.
Rupert Galvez says the swimmers were diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis following three days of intense workouts after they returned from summer break in 2008. He says they reported swelling and weakness in their arms and discolored urine.
Galvez was involved in their treatment, and he wrote a 2008 article in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine about the case. He says coaches should be cautious about putting athletes through rigorous training after they return from extended breaks.
Iowa players were hospitalized Monday after strenuous workouts following winter break.
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Further research indicates that 26,000 such cases were reported last year alone in the military and athletic worlds…including 100 in Oregon high schools…
But offering facts and staying rational doesn’t do much for ratings…
Frankly, I hope Coach Doyle, Coach Ferentz and others sue Pat Forde and the other rumor-mongers for defamation of character — and ask for $1 in damages.
If anyone should be fired over all this, it should be people like Pat Forde.
Thanks, Mike.
The fact is the door is open for this kind of criticism. I’m not sure they know how to react. Their reaction has to be measured, likely for legal reasons. Plus, I imagine all energy possible is going into the kids and trying to figure out what happened. There are checkmarks that need to be made before a definitive statement is made. And, who knows, maybe they’ll never be able to arrive at a commonality in these cases.
Just as they would with an unexpected Iowa loss, the national writers are going to take this and run with it. Iowa is a flyover team, like it or not. Notice the repeated sentiment among the nationals, save for Columbus’ Bruce Hooley. All negative. There is a herd mentality. But — BUT — the door is open.
For everyone who loves Iowa, you’re going to hate the next few weeks.
This is the worst type of gallows humor, but OF COURSE Jordan Bernstine was one of the 13. Dear God that kid just can’t catch a break.
In all seriousness, there are a lot of questions that demand answers here, but that will take time. I just hope that all of the players affected have a full and quick recovery so that they can get on with their lives and rejoin the team if they so desire.
Jordan had a strong Insight, perhaps his best game in a couple years.
I think he has an inside track to one of the open safety spots.
He’s never had a clean run of health at Iowa. Godspeed in his recovery.
Sorry, but for athletes the amount of exercise reported is nothing. Perhaps it was an issue of being dehydrated (from being hung over), not stretching, using caffeine, creatine, ephedrine, (all legal) and sudden intense workout after a long break? Typical leg workout guidance from a weight magazine “4. SET IT UP RIGHT – Don’t think that you can go into the gym and train legs for 25 minutes, and 4 to 5 sets total and gain mass. Legs require an almost overtraining mentality. The first few sets should be warm up strictly, so they don’t count. Do at least four movements for the legs and do four to five sets per exercise. Precontest, do at least five or six sets per exercise and add an exercise as well as a superset.” 4x4x8 =128 of increasing weight. A typical athlete at this level should be squatting between 400 and 500 pounds easily.
Great post.
I’m pretty sure ephedrine is illegal.
In the Oregon case, where several high schoolers succumbed to rhabdo and other exertion injuries, a common thread was never found. All the athletes had something that triggered it. Hydration, IIRC, was a factor.
I sincerely hope all these kids come out OK. The doctor I talked to today said they should recover because they’re all young and healthy. Hopefully, they’ll be able to continue as FCS football players.
I should have said ma huang which is all kinds of sports drinks and supplements.
Or any of the other ephedra replacements “snake oil” supplement providers have chosen to foist on a uninformed public: green-tea-leaf extracts, citrus aurantium, yerba mate, yohimbe, guarana, kola nut, combined with the herbs cayenne pepper, white willow bark and ginger.
Let’s hope they are all okay and they go on to great things. Most of what I’ve read on the subject seems to suggest that if you don’t need dialysis people usually have a quick recovery and no aftereffects. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of knowledge on the subject. My suggestion to the program would be to partner with the university and do some research to help ensure that it doesn’t happen again, not only at the UOI. It would make a great project for a grad student.
I’m sure that will happen. It almost has to happen.
I imagine no one feels worse about this than the S&C staff and KF. Everything will be examined.
I offer all my best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery for all of these boys, the one truly important thing in this whole incident.
You get it, Paul.
Excellent post! Thank you!
Marc,
As usual, very good, measured stuff. Lot different than what is out there elsewhere.
2things…….
Did it take you long to get “real” stuff
and
Does it not bother you some of the salacious stuff others report almost like fact?!?!
Yes I get I’m an Iowa fan, but this sin’t the first time they’ve made crap up for ANY team?! When do they get in trouble?!
Chad
Yes, in answer to the No. 1. And I still don’t feel as though I got enough.
The second, I believe the nationals who’ve written about this have worked from facts.
There is a faction of parents in this who are angry and scared. They are making this known to ESPN, Sporting News.
And that reaction is completely fair. The families have the right to be angry. This is lightning striking for them. This is the call in the night that drops them to the floor. I would be a lunatic. I would be heartsick.
Do all parents feel this way? No. You can gather that from my story. They are concerned. They don’t want this to happen again.
And we don’t know all the circumstances as to why KF wasn’t in IC immediately.
Sounds as though the symptoms showed over the weekend. They didn’t land in the hospital until Monday evening or thereabouts.
What was KF being told? What was the communication from IC to KF? What was KF’s travel situation? We know he didn’t get “beamed” up Star Trek style. Do we even know he was recruiting after Monday’s hospitalization?
I’m not defending not being there until Wednesday night, but I don’t know enough to render judgment.
Regarding KF’s abscence from IC until Wednesday Marc:
I know we don’t have enough information yet to accurately judge his absence but it still rankles me that both KF and Barta weren’t back in town immediately after they learned what happened. To me that’s part of why they get paid the big bucks–to physically be there when and if their athletes need them, even in the off season.
But, as you said, we don’t have all the facts yet to effectively render a judgement.
Well Lori, I do get that, but lets just point out it would have been lip service to the scared and frightened. I assure you every person in the world who has had sick personell, Army-”recruits”, family etc….rush home to be with parents. We are a funny bunch, us human beings.
Chad
True, but would SI, ESPN, etc be heaping as much criticism on the situation had Barta and KF been there and addressed it sooner than they did? Just makes me wonder.
You’re right though, as human beings we are a funny bunch.
We don’t know what was communicated to KF or Barta.
I imagine there was some fluidity to the situation. And then travel logistics. Don’t know that, either.
That’s true Marc.
And believe me, I grew up in a house that let’s just say didn’t recognize Iowa football.
In my 13 years covering Ferentz and Iowa football, I’ve never doubted KF’s perspective.
WoooW Marc,
Good stuff, made my skin raise…..In all honesty I never got the sense anything was wrong here. I really don’t get the rush to judgment period. On that note I also could care less what I know about what KF is doing other than are the kids progressing?……The parents need info here and the kids, that’s it. We don’t need to know, heck I don’t read or watch the news, I’m not interested in getting behind the scenes to see what they are screwing up and I personally don’t think anyone else needs to know squat either….
I think 90% of humanity wants to know what other people are screwing up so they don’t have to deal with their own failings….I get you and I know what your job is and I think you know I admire and respect your efforts greatly.
With that said, I’m anti-media, anti-government, pro stay out of my business and I’ll stay out of yours. That’s just how I am. With that said I’m also very compassionate, very emotional and quick to forgive and slow to point the finger of blame. Now being honest I am fairly quick to say hey, look at yourself here old pal…..that’s pretty rich you standing in judgment without any real background perspective or hey look at that NO transparency on your part.
I expect my Government to do what they say without the media digging crap up, because quite frankly as a rule they are just as agenda driven as the government because they think “they” know best what we they should do or we should know….When the Doyle fails they get fired, period……honestly they are all still more of the same IMO. Which brings me back to I’ll do what I do and you do what you do….I don’t need to know what you think everyone is doing wrong…..
Not you obviously I got on a tangent sorry…once again “real” article!
Chad
PS…….As bad as KF can be info wise I’d be terrible to drag info out of because I’ll talk people into circles all day, just for fun, and then just when you lest expect it I’ll tell you more than you want to know. That’s just how I am….
Chad,
You take yourself too seriously, in general you are a blowhard, assuming you are an authority on most everything (not only in this post). I find funny how you always suck up to Marc so he will throw you a bone to pump up your chest. You did get it partially correct…you do tell more than I want to know, but it isn’t when I least expect it.
oh, hey thanks Pat…I really appreciate it. Just like anything in life, we all have critics. It seems your mine…:)
Chad
By the by not sure where Doyle came from above I meant Gov….
Chad