No second thoughts for recruit Blythe in wake of Iowa football incident
BY TOM WITOSKY AND RANDY PETERSON | REGISTER STAFF WRITERS
A national recruiting expert today cautioned recruits from over-reacting to Tuesday’s report that 12 Iowa football players were hospitalized after workouts.
And Austin Blythe, an offensive lineman and defensive tackle from Williamsburg, said today he doesn’t have any second thoughts about playing for Iowa.
“No, not at all,” Blythe said. “Coach Doyle knows what he’s doing, along with all the other coaches. I’m sure whatever went wrong, they’ll fix it and it’ll be good to go.”
Two members of the University of Iowa football team indicated they underwent exceptionally strenuous workouts days before they and 10 teammates were hospitalized.
Allen Wallace, national recruiting editor for Scouts.com, said “it won’t have any affect on recruiting.
“If there was a pattern of something like that happening over time, then maybe, but this isn’t.
“It’s the kind of thing fans of the Hawkeyes don’t like to hear, nobody would, but whatever happened should be easily addressable.”
Meanwhile, the university has scheduled a press conference for 3:30 p.m. today in Iowa City. The press release says a member of the Iowa football staff and a doctor from University Hospitals will be present. Follow coverage in a live blog on Hawk Central.
Iowa’s sports information department confirmed that a dozen Hawkeyes had been hospitalized Monday and they were “responding well to treatment” Tuesday.
Officials at Iowa later indicated all of the players were out of immediate medical danger, but confirmed the need for treatment was “likely related” to off-season drills.
Around 20 high school seniors are expected to sign national letters of intent with Iowa next Wednesday.
“I would be very surprised if kids who have been planning for months to go to Iowa would back off their commitment,” Wallace said. “What happened doesn’t demonstrate any kind of wrongful pattern.
“The strength and conditioning people — if there are things that need to be corrected, then I’m sure they will get it corrected.”
Blythe said he heard of the players being hospitalized on the news. Charles Coe, the grandfather of Edwardsville, Ill., running back Rodney Coe, said he did not all the details, but thought his son would still honor his commitment to the Hawkeyes.
Charles Coe is a high school coach, who said the events of this week did not make him overly concerned.
“I’ve been doing it for 37 years, and no it really doesn’t,” Coe said. “Without talking to the trainers and talking with Kirk, I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to comment on it.”
Jeff Fleener, an assistant coach at Allen (Texas) High School, said linebacker Melvin Spears is still excited about joining the Hawkeyes.
Alan DiBona, the father of freshman linebacker Shane DiBona of Duxbury, Mass., told The Des Moines Register that his son was one of those hospitalized.
DiBona politely declined to answer additional questions about his son because the two had not had an opportunity to discuss the situation in greater detail.
On Jan. 20, however, Shane DiBona talked about a staggering workout on Facebook: “I had to squat 240 pounds 100 times and it was timed. I can’t walk and I fell down the stairs … lifes (sic) great.”
Alan DiBona said Shane seemed well.
“We’ve talked to him — and he’s doing great,” Alan DiBona said.
Also on Jan. 20, the Facebook page for former Des Moines Lincoln star Jordan Bernstine, an Iowa defensive back, reported: “Hands Down the hardest workout I’ve ever had in my life! I can’t move!”
Bernstine, reached by the Iowa City Press-Citizen, also confirmed he was treated at the hospital — but said he’s OK now.
Freshman tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz responded to the Register via text message about player symptoms.
“I guess there (sic) urine was brown and they were all dizzy,” the text read.
Workout-related concerns
NCAA rules allow off-season conditioning workouts to begin this month, according to Fred Mims, Iowa’s associate athletic director for student services and compliance. Mims said athletes can participate in supervised, two-hour workouts daily — up to eight hours per week.
Chris Doyle, Iowa’s strength and conditioning coach, could not be reached for comment.
Gary Barta, Iowa athletic director, said football coach Kirk Ferentz remained out of town on a recruiting trip, but was aware that players had been hospitalized.
“Our No. 1 concern is the safety of our student-athletes,” Barta said in a news release, “so we are pleased with the positive feedback.
“Our next step is to find out what happened so we can avoid this happening in the future.”
Mims said players contacted his office with questions about potential missed class time and indicated it is his office’s understanding that treatment was needed “from their training, their weightlifting.”
DiBona outlined a difficult weight-related workout on his Facebook page. Freshman linebacker Jim Poggi, posted a status update on his page, though it was removed later Tuesday.
Iowa offensive lineman Julian Vandervelde told the Associated Press that Iowa coaches are concerned about the safety and well-being of players.
“They are nothing if not concerned for the health of the players,” Vandervelde said. “That’s always the first priority, health and development. I mean workouts are never used to punish.
“It’s always about improvement, and workouts are always well within the capabilities of the athletes asked to perform them.”
Tom Moore, a university spokesman, said university officials were still attempting to ascertain the exact cause of the problem.
“The cause is not completely clear,” Moore said, “but the faculty and staff are doing an excellent job taking care of these student-athletes. We are still working on why this happened.”
Searching for answers
At about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, the University of Iowa sports information department put out a statement confirming a dozen players had been hospitalized Monday and they were “responding well to treatment” on Tuesday.
The five-paragraph statement raised questions, however, about the reason for treating the players — and failed to provide any other details.
The statement indicated Iowa would not comment further “at this time.”
Iowa spokesperson Tom Moore, reached later by the Register, said “there is no indication that a wider health threat to the public at large exists.”
At about 6:45 p.m., Iowa’s sports information department released another statement with the subject line “UI Clarification” that stated: “The Hawkeye football players admitted to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics were all participating in NCAA allowable winter workouts. The symptoms, for which the student-athletes are being treated, are likely related to those workouts.”
Medical concerns
The text from Fiedorowicz and a short-hand message on Poggi’s Facebook page — “in the hospital … turns out its bad news bears wen ur wizz is brown” — raised medical questions and concerns.
One possible explanation for the problem — given the acknowledgment that the problems related to off-season conditioning — is that the players could have developed myoglobinuria, a condition caused by muscle breakdown resulting from reasons that include excessive, strenuous workouts.
Myoglobinuria, according to the website eMedicine.com, occurs when muscles begin to break down and Myoglobin, a dark red protein, seeps into the urine.
Physicians are trained to respond to the condition by initiating aggressive hydration to prevent acute kidney injury.
University officials would not address medical-related questions involving the players.
The Register’s Bryce Miller and Andrew Logue and the Iowa City Press-Citizen’s Andy Hamilton contributed to this article.
Category: Iowa Hawkeyes Football
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Radish and joshuasmothers, Hawk Central. Hawk Central said: 12 UI football players remain hospitalized http://bit.ly/evmNxf #hawkeyes [...]
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Bad drugs
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Tee hee, tee hee, tee hee…yuk, yuk, yuk. Are you referring to the Thalidomide your mother was taking when she was carrying you? ….Is she still carrying you, by the way?
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If the “No. 1 concern is the safety of our student athletes,” then why was this allowed to happen? I lifted hay bales until I couldn’t move my arms, and I played small college sports and went through a lot of tough practices, but I’ve never heard of anything like this. It sounds like the old “withhold water at practice to make them tougher” philosophy. Whoever was supervising this practice didn’t know when to stop.
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You lifted hay bales? You’ve never heard of this? Seriously?
Well, gee whiz, Clem. Spit the hay out and welcome to the 21st century.
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Bad workout? Sounds more like bad WEED. No way 12 guys all react w/ the same kidney ailment from lifting. SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNN!!!!
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Wdmguy: Oh, so you have your medical degree now? You’re just one of many buffoons who stink up these message boards with asinine comments. They were all doing the same lifts, the same exercises and that isn’t as uncommon as you might think. When the urine turns brown, it’s a kidney aliment, but it’s nothing serious. Now please go back to watching cartoons.
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Rhabdo is no joking matter. 1 case is a warning sign that you may be going to far, 13 cases is a crystal clear sign of excessive training. These workouts need to be monitored to safeguard the well being of the student athletes. Rhabdo can lead to kidney failure and the need for hemodialysis for the rest of your life. Ask anyone on dialysis if this is any way to live.
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this is not good.
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I’m more concerned about their spelling and grammar, looks like they should be in class instead. What’s the bar here? “Spell Iowa and you can play here.”
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Have you actually read a Facebook status, text message, or Twitter post before? Are you familiar with the conventions? Non-standard spelling and grammar (while perhaps quite annoying) are not, in this context, evidence of the inability to use grammar and spelling correctly in a more formal setting. Lighten up! (u no wut i meen?)
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You’ve been terribly arrogant since you got that G.E.D., taz. Everybody in your 8th grade class must be mighty proud of you now.
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As Jeff explained, “twitter” uses text lingo and spellings. When you can afford a cellular phone, I’m sure you’ll figure that out.
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Can’t spell DUI without U of I
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wow, did you come up with that all on your own? I bet your mommy is going to put it up on her fridge with a gold star!
What does a DUI have to do with this article anyway? Are you lost, again? Go back to your’s house and don’t come out until you are a big boy.
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This is an interesting explanation. Although I this is a legitimate condition I would think that there is somethinkg else all have in common. Having been a college wrestler and football player I have never seen athletes come down with this after some very tough and grueling workouts. Take a blood test and see what else may have triggered this to happen….they are young and will do anything to get ahead to be noticed and to compete.
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Well this will really help Iowa recruiting won’t it. It looks like Iowa football will look more like Iowa basketball in the not to distant future.
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This will be forgotten in a couple days. Geez, wait until National Signing Day. We will sign a stellar class!
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Maybe you should wait to hear a few facts about the situation before you start criticizing.
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Why wait for actual facts when you are as smart as JoeyF, sfpr, and all the other experts of all things human?
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Oops, meant to type “regimen” up there, not “regiment.”
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No one cares about what you post, so the typos really don’t matter.
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That is his attempt at a “joke”, don’t worry dancingbull, according to him since I don’t “agree” with his “opinions” I am a degenerate. Oh yeah and I miss spell a word from time to time so I am stupid. I have asked him repeatedly to give me real answers and it all comes back to simply that this involves the U of I and it’s football team. He thinks anything or anyone related to those two things is evil and is part of a conspiracy to cover up crimes for former and current players.
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Sure you did, Drunk Brain. Back again, eh? Can’t get an appointment with the psychiatrist and just killing time before you get up on the roof with a high powered rifle? Here you go. Sing this while you’re figuring out how to spell “regimen.”
The word is “Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,
Let every loyal Iowan sing;
The word is “Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,”
Until the walls and rafters ring (Go Hawks!)
Come on and cheer, cheer, cheer, for IOWA
Come on and cheer until you hear the final gun.
The word is “Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,
Until the game is won!!!!
GO HAWKS!
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We don’t know all the facts but it sounds like it must have been a pretty serious situation. It’s a good thing it wasn’t in the heat like we can have during the summer practices or the results might have been a whole lot worse.
The trainers or coaches that lead the drills and exercises should have to do them along with the players and then they would know to let up before the sitation got that bad.
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STEROIDS. Busted AGAIN.
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sfprman……low I.Q. and bad jokes…busted again.
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LettermanHawk, he is probably a buddy of drunkeyesrule. Posting comments that are out of dislike and hate instead of true and valid information. Sad really, but that is the world we live in I guess.
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time to can Ferentz & move on to a new era….
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Put down the bong, stoner.
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1hawkeye1, I think he super glued it to his hands so he never has to put it down. He just needs someone to fill the bowl for him and light it because he forgot he needed one free hand to do that himself.
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As is always the case, Kirk Ferentz is out of town and unavailable for comment. (Like he doesn’t have a cell phone, a blackberry, an iphone …)
Kirk Ferentz’s message for his answering machine:
Hi, this is Kirk Ferentz. I am aware of this alleged incident and consider it to be a serious situation. Based on what I know to this point, I think it is best to let due process run its course before coming to any judgment.
At the tone, please leave the name or names of the offending player or players and the charge or charges and I will never get back to you.
Thanks.
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“well, when there wizz is brown….”
Gotta love pre-med students today!
Actually, this shouldn’t be shocking. Perhaps if the players had bothered to stay in shape since the bowl game this wouldn’t have happened. I would say that all the Tweeters should be stripped of their schollies if they keep this up….Just kidding! Reminds me of when Andre Tippett and Larry Station used to Tweet about Hayden’s hard practices once in awhile.
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Material still isn’t getting any laughs, Joe. Here’s my reply to any comment you make as an uninvited party crasher on our boards:
The word is “Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,
Let every loyal Iowan sing;
The word is “Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,”
Until the walls and rafters ring (Go Hawks!)
Come on and cheer, cheer, cheer, for IOWA
Come on and cheer until you hear the final gun.
The word is “Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,
Until the game is won!!!!
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Sounds like maybe Mr. Brands was running the practice! lol.
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Somebody is obviously a sadist in the training room and needs to get fired. Putting student/athletes into a potentially life-threatening condition through off-season, timed weight-lifting is ridiculous. Trainer(s?) worked the athletes so hard their muscles broke down and their urine turned brown, which can damage the kidneys, and all we hear are platitudinous lies from the UI’s Athletic Dept.
I hope one of these kids sues to nip this sort of “training” in the bud. I’ve never even heard of this condition, but thanks to the UI Athletic Dept., I’ve heard of it now.
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There are legitimate benefits that can be derived from a 100 rep set for the trained athlete. Faster muscle growth, greater endurance, fat burning, etc. In this case, 240 pounds in the squat was far to great a weight to be handled for 100 reps for what looks like 12 U of I football players. It might have been well handled for the rest of the guys in the training session, or for arguments sake, the entire Auburn offensive and defensive line players. Or not. Nobody else bothered to report-if they were using this technique, or how well or poorly it worked. I will say this though, while I admire the willingness of the players to make the attempt, I question their ability to handle college academic material if they don’t know the difference between training pain and injury. The pressure to complete these reps is partially per pressure, but mostly comes from within. Don’t place blame anywhere but there.
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Something “foul” is going on at the U of I. This is total b.s. and waiting for a cover-up from the AD, definite PED abuse. Anyone that think these are the only group of kids that works out hard has never trained.
Roids, HgH. CHEATING. The NCAA better be all over this. 12 players might be out next season Sqawks.
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Thanks Detective Cy! We appreciate your swift determination based on nothing but a press release!
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Leave it up to a ISU troll to come in and start spreading rumors!
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Wow ISUCy, you must be a mentalist. To figure out that this involved roids, HgH and cheating with this kind of information is amazing. Maybe you can take over Kreskins old job.
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Well maybe ISU will have a shot at scoring another td, or will it 3 more years for that. come to think of it, Iowa would still be better without those 12 (not even knowing who they are) than ISU. Keep screaming foul though, I’m sure you won’t be around to admit you’re wrong if you are proven wrong.
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Sounds to me like they are working them pretty hard. The players need to keep themselves hydrated tho.
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It sounds a little excessive. I can’t even squat a 100 times without the weights. I’ve heard of run until you puke but how can everyone equally do the same workout with weights?
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1460 KXNO had a doctor on this morning and he said that this excessive of a workout is usually for hardcore athletes who workout everyday and are in excellent shape, he even said when he worked out and was in shape for sports he would do 100 reps but not being timed which is what was going on in this case. He said it’s usually for juniors and seniors who have been in the system for years not underclassman which what most of the names reported were, either freshman or RS freshman.
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These are division 1 athletes, and essentially “investments” in the program – the coaching staff wouldn’t intentially hurt them or punish them with a hard workout. These are also the same types of workouts that put people like Bryan Bulaga, Shonn Greene, and Chad Greenway in the NFL.
Look at the players who were affected (that we know of) — they aren’t exactly top tier athletes (yet). We’re not talking about Jeremiha Hunter, Tyler Sash, Julian Vandervelde, or Adrian Clayborn…we’re talking about a lazy 2nd string d-back, a freshman linebacker who saw limited playing time, and a freshman TE who hardly played. I realize that the expectations are the same for the entire team, but if you’re not expected to perform at 100% every Saturday against some of the top programs in the country, then it’s easily to get a little relaxed — not to mention they’re coming off a 4 week break including no sanctioned workouts.
On Iowa, Go Hawks!
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#mariaconz: “Putting student/athletes into a potentially life-threatening condition through off-season, timed weight-lifting is ridiculous”
Are you joking!?! How do you expect to run a successful D1 football program without putting your players through off-season workouts???
Theres a good chance that this could end up being a result of PEDs (add it to the list)..but to say that they shouldn’t have been working out in the off-season, get real! And I really doubt that Doyle would put any of his athletes through a “potentially life threatening” workout.
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Maybe this is a clue as to why Iowa has ended up with no running backs for so many seasons in a row.
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Sure, it caused ARob to get a concussion and smoke weed, it caused Wegher’s personal problems, too right.
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Don’t forgot Paki’s two concussions! But I am hoping eastiowa said that based on the ones in the past that had leg/knee injuries not the concussions and personal issues.
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When reached for comment coach replied “I did not realize that the University of Iowa had a football team”!
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And when reached for a comment, bobbob said, “I did not realize I was supposed to have a triple digit I.Q. to post in here.”
There are some 100,000 comedians out of work in the country “double bob,” so nobody needs bad jokes.
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Wait for the reaction, this is not a joke, it is how things work with the Sgt. Schultz like reaction you get on every problem they have. You know “I know nothing, I see nothing…” It’s not a joke, it is called a lack of accountability and a fan base that is willing to ignore anything as long as they win. You know this it the truth.
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HIPPA rules allow very little info to be released. You are a moron. Go back to the CY boards and talk about your women’s gymnastics team.
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I posted this last night and some rocket scientist hosed all the early comments. (Learn how to use your blogging software.)
This is the exact same story that played out last August at McMinnville High School:
http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/ipe/docs/OPHD_Football_Prelim_Report.pdf?ga=t
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/highschool/news/story?id=5524943
I find it hard to believe that this is happening now in clusters, but it doesn’t have anything to do with chemicals. In the old days football coaches regularly drove their players to cardiac arrest under the misguided belief that working under a blistering sun without water was a good idea. Since killing your players is generally a bad idea, that practice has fallen by the wayside, but coaches still believe in a macho code — as they always have.
Unless there have been clusters like this going back fifty years, I think somebody needs to take a subpoena-driven look at what’s going on before it’s 12 dead players instead of 12 sick players. You can’t trust the coaches or players to police this. (See also concussions.)
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From HerkyforPrez:
“And I really doubt that Doyle would put any of his athletes through a ‘potentially life threatening’ workout.”
Not intentionally, no. But who’s to say that the strength coach knows anything about how, in rare cases, extreme repetitive exercise can cause a potentially lethal breakdown of muscle tissue? Like all coaches, this coach has probably subjected himself to plenty of macho-driven self-abuse. His thinking is that if he survived it, everybody will survive it.
That’s how you get people killed.
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Hawkeye fans, be advised this was a life threatening situation and the brown urine was actually the athletes muscles which had decomposed due to lack of oxygen and were being removed from the body. My son was one of three college basketball students who were all hospitalized with the same condition it’s called rhabdomyolysis. It is caused by tremendous over exercising – simply too much to soon. My son was in shock trauma and almost died from rhabdomyolysis you die of kidney failure if you ignore the brown urine.
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Smitty, I am sorry your son went through that, did he have any permanent damage? The doctor I heard on the radio this morning said that the football players were treated fast enough they will have a full recovery but the longer you wait after it happens the less likely you will have full recovery and can have permanent damage.
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If I were a parent of a possible recruit to Iowa, I would grab my pen and scratch Iowa out.
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Well that seems extreme, without any kind of investigating into what happened you just throw them out the window. That seems extreme, most parents like to know what actually happened before just making a decision like that.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Des Moines Register, DMRsports, Randy Peterson, Jon Miller, Lindsey Moon and others. Lindsey Moon said: Drugs and hospitalization…Go Hawks? Lord…http://hawkcentral.com/2011/01/26/12-ui-football-players-remain-hospitalized/ [...]
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[...] Poggi, the father of Iowa freshman linebacker Jim Poggi — one of the 13 hospitalized players. The Des Moines Register has also confirmed that fellow linebacker Shane DiBona is also among the 13 hospitalized [...]
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i think this thing is being blown way outta porportion just based on poggi’s comment that he was timed and everyone takes from that thinking it was some small time alotment but i have not heard once what that time actually was, i weigh 185 pounds and can do 10 reps at 225 in about 15 seconds, im not trying to brag im just saying this was not some impossible task they had to do and im sure they were allowed to rack the weight and rest and stretch for a while not just rattle them all out at once that would be insanity, and for how strong some of these guys are this was more a conditioning exercise and its bad that this happened but its in no way anyones fault its not like it was punishment it was a proven workout and ive heard the wrestling team does this stuff all the time
and hows about if your not a hawkeye fan or just want to rip on iowa you get off this site right now this is a place for true fans not cyclones upset that they are a third rate team
lettermanhawk and dave7605 you guys are awesome keep on those non hawks
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winsx3, I think you are right I think it is blown out of proportion but they do need to take better care of their underclassman alot of schools have came out and said they do the same training but not with their undersclassman which almost all the guys in the hospital are undersclassman. I think a lot of people have moved on from the actual workout and now are upset with the handling of the issue, why isn’t ferentz and barta there? Why did you hold a pointless press conference where no one answered any real questions? The only person who said anything was Poggi’s dad. You could see the concern on this face and you could hear it in his voice.
For 95% of people commenting in the public and media said they thought the first the workout was too hard, then other athletes and schools say they do the same training, then it was ok but now it is the handling of the issue and not the workout that people have an issue with. People either need to pick the issue they have a problem with or shut up until all the information is out in the open and we know what happened for sure.
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Amen to lettermanhawk and dave7605.
I’m sick of the clown fans coming on these boards and making no comments on the article. Just bashing the UI and making personal insults.
Hawk Central won’t do anything about it, so I guess it’s time for the posters to fight back. Pretty pathetic that we have to do that.
I come here to discuss UI athletics not get in a pissing match with 11 year old morons.
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