Documents cite U of I concerns on what to release about hospitalized athletes
University of Iowa athletic officials expressed concerns last month about what to tell the public and reactions to the workout-related hospitalization of 13 Hawkeye football players, a review of hundreds of pages of documents released Tuesday shows.
The situation involving the players, who were treated after strenuous off-season drills, created a public-relations rift that stretched across the country.
In one e-mail exchange among associate athletic director Rick Klatt, athletic director Gary Barta, Iowa’s sports information staff and others, Klatt summarizes criticisms of the Hawkeye football program by writers for SportsIllustrated.com and CBSSports.com.
“Re: national media … not surprised at all with the reaction … but I’d like to think they’ll be in touch with Phil/Steve (Iowa sports information) before they elect to go ‘nuclear’ … but it also speaks to the importance of getting out in front of this today,” Klatt wrote the morning of Jan. 26 – two days after players were hospitalized.
The documents, requested by The Des Moines Register and other media under the state’s open records law, provide a glimpse at how officials reacted when players were treated as a result of developing rhabdomyolysis. The condition breaks down muscle tissue, resulting from extreme workouts, dehydration or other factors that can cause severe kidney and permanent kidney damage in some cases.
All players were released from University of Iowa Hospitals within a week of admission.
University representatives are in the midst of an investigation to determine what caused the health issue.
E-mail exchanges provided Tuesday show debate about whether officials should disclose that athletes had been hospitalized. Tysen Kendig, U of I vice president of strategic communication, expressed doubts about the initial statement Iowa released on Jan. 25.
“I can’t help but wonder if this raises more questions than it seeks to address by issuing it,” Kendig wrote. “For instance, it doesn’t at all address what happened? What was the cause?”
Dr. Ned Amendola, head of U of I sports medicine, countered Kendig by writing that providing some information was beneficial.
“Dr. (Kyle) Smoot has done an excellent job taking care of these kids. We are still working on why this happened,” Amendola wrote. “This is a very uncommon diagnosis and to affect such a large number of kids at the same time.”
The records that were made public did not show e-mail traffic about the condition of the athletes or the circumstances surrounding their hospitalization on the day of Jan. 24.
In their initial statement the next day, university representatives disclosed that 12 athletes, later increased to 13, had been hospitalized, but officials gave no reason why.
Steve Parrott, a U of I spokesman, said a university review of e-mails about the incident showed none was sent on Jan. 24.
Parrott said officials withheld three e-mails – two dated Jan. 25 – because they dealt with student-athlete medical conditions and were protected by federal and state privacy laws. A third e-mail listed each player’s room and cell phone numbers.
In preparation for a U of I news conference, Klatt underscored the public-relations elements at play as the university made decisions about how to address the public and media.
One statement, attributed to Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz, assured the public that players were responding to treatment, and promised to find the cause.
“This is an opportunity to ‘control our message,’ ” Klatt wrote in an e-mail before the release of Ferentz’s Jan. 28 statement.
Phil Haddy, a member of the U of I’s sports information staff, indicated that others had drafted the statement from Ferentz – rather than the coach – and there was an effort to keep that fact secret.
“Everyone knows he keeps things very short and to the point,” Haddy, wrote on Jan. 27. “I know this is important, but I think they will probably know he didn’t write it.”
Klatt urged that Ferentz be given wide latitude on how he wanted the statement to read.
“One of the many important things is that he agrees with the message – it is his, after all – and it is accurate regardless of its length,” Klatt wrote.
Klatt added: “Also – very, very important – please delete after reading it.”
Tom Moore, another member of the university’s public relations staff, said deletion of e-mails is done independently by university employees “if for no other reason than to avoid confusion down the road.”
Moore defended Klatt’s instruction to delete the e-mail.
Moore indicated employees routinely discard communications they consider to be draft documents because they believe that is consistent with the state’s open records law.
“Press releases and statements often go through various drafts, and early versions can contain misinformation, misunderstanding of information, and/or elements that might unintentionally violate privacy laws,” Moore said.
“As such, to avoid the risk of misinterpretation, early drafts of such materials often are discarded or deleted,” he added.
Two top U of I officials expressed concerns about how transparent the athletic department would be about the incident and how treatment of the athletes was being handled.
Elizabeth Altmaier, a U of I faculty athletic representative, and Lisabeth Kestel, a physical therapy professor and member of the Presidential Committee on Athletics, or PCA, outlined their unease.
“I am writing to note my own concern,” Altmaier wrote Jan. 26 to Barta and U of I President Sally Mason, “and our need to be transparent when we find out the causes of the medical situation. I also see from press coverage that the team coaches are heading up medical care, and I cannot believe that orthopedists equal internists or nephrologists for the best care for these young people.”
Kestel wrote Jan. 27 that the “situation with the student-athletes in (football) has me very disturbed. As a health care provider, I feel more of an obligation to find out what is going on and to help assist in seeing that this or something similar does not happen again.”
She suggested she wasn’t confident about how transparent athletic officials would be. “The lack of transparency of the athletic department in working with the PCA over the last few years has been frustrating to me at best,” she wrote.
DOCUMENTS:
E-mails, part 1. (This is an un-annotated string of e-mails. An annotated version will be posted soon.)
E-mails, part 2. (Un-annotated string of e-mails. An annotated version will be posted soon.)
List of approved nutritional supplements for UI players.
Category: Iowa Hawkeyes Football
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Des Moines Register, DMRsports, RandyBrubaker, FightForIowa, Ron Allen and others. Ron Allen said: RT @hawkcentral: Rhabdo update: Hundreds of documents released today http://bit.ly/i36WIt #hawkeyes [...]
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Aah, the media! Still trying to turn this into something bigger than it really is! Politicians, lawyers, insurance salesmen and media members…..all from the same mold!
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You don’t think THAT many healthy young college people getting hospitalized ISN’T a big deal, toughguy?
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Take a hike, “Richard” head. What’s the comment about “toughguy.” If you were brave, you would say that to MadisonHawkis face…but you’re not a brave man, are you, and I’ll wager you’re not a “tough guy” either. Just a sad, Hawkhating troll, so quit acting like you really are concerned with the health of Iowa football players. You hate their guts.
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The AZ Hawk is right, Joe…you don’t care about these Iowa players. It’s one thing that you come on like a creep, but altogether another when you come off like a hypocrite.
You hate everything black and gold, including those Iowa football players who were hospitalized. You hang around these message boards like an undertaker just praying someone will get killed in a gunfight.
You are a t**d floating in the punch bowl of life and we just hold our noses when you go by.
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Joe, the other posters are right. You don’t give a crap about any of these players. You are truly like a vulture flying around a dead carcus and you can’t wait for a Hawkeye article to come around so you can jump on it and spew your hatred and vitriol. That is truly a horrible human being. You should be ashamed of yourself.
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They’re rioting in Africa they’re starving in Spain(per the Kingston Trio) & you’re beating a dead horse trying to make news.
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First of all I acknowledge that I am a Cyclone fan, NOT a HAWKEYE hater. Secondly, I wish the 13 players all the best and will be happy if all are on the field next year.
This article isn’t about routing for the Cyclones or the Hawkeyes. It’s about how the issue was handled I don’t for a minute think there is a cover up, but at the same time I can’t understand when a Dr. comes out and says ” “This is a very uncommon diagnosis and to affect such a large number of kids at the same time.” how it doesn’t deserve an investigation and answers that the public should know about.
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cyclence, first of all, thanks for being reasonable enough to actually be glad that these players are all right, and not just automatically trying to pass off another conspiracy theory here (which every hateful Cyclone fan loves to do). No one is disagreeing at all with your comment that this is unusual for this diagnosis (which they said IS common), but just not in the number of players at one time. Also, no one is disagreeing that there needs to be an investigation as to how this happened. What people are disagreeing with is the fact that articles like these really don’t shed any light on to how this horrible thing did happened. It merely serves as a way to try to make people suspicious about the way people handled it. In an incident like this, there is always going to be discussions on the best way to handle it to the media, because they also know how the media likes to put their own spin on it to the public, which sometimes makes matters even worse. No one was trying to cover anything up, but I can see how there might be some discussion/disagreement on what to release, and when, in light of the fact that they still didn’t have an answer as to how this happened. They still don’t know, but they are looking into it, and it would seem to me, there does not need to be anymore flame-intending articles released until the answer is found. If it isn’t found, then that also should be reported, but let’s at least wait until there is some actual news to report. Anything other than that, is merely trying to make headlines and stir the pot, something the media seems to love now a days more than actually just reporting the news.
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As usual due to how the media wants to spin this whole ordeal we get statements such as “how it doesn’t deserve an investigation……”. There IS an extensive investigtion currently being done both internally and external. As correctly reported SEVERAL times this investigation will take upto 90 days which do to the uncommon circumstances it will take time and I’m sure input from several experts before a possible cause is determine. And not to shock anyone but there may not be a definitive cause.
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” at the same time I can’t understand when a Dr. comes out and says ” “This is a very uncommon diagnosis and to affect such a large number of kids at the same time.” how it doesn’t deserve an investigation and answers that the public should know about.
Umm, there is an investigation and the results are expected in a couple months, if not sooner.
As a Cyclone, your lack of understanding is, well, understandable.
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Really HawkITom? you have to go there with a lack of understanding comment? No wonder some of the black and gold Koolaid drinkers get a bit of a jab from a cyclone when all it is involved is a discussion point yet turns in to a target for a slam. Let me give you this.. I do understand the need for investigation, and that it has taken at least a month to get any information out. I was referring to the OTHER Hawkeye bloggers when they were lamenting that it is a MEDIA conspiracy towards the Coaching staff. I actually graduated from ISU, I hope you actually graduated from IOWA.
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As a Cyclone fan and grad you probably haven’t followed this as closely as many of us Iowa fans (and yes, I am a grad), although some from bloggers from your school who revel in any problem or misstep in Iowa City are having a glorious time with this.
The investigation announced by the university within days of the outbreak was supposed to be completed in 90 days. Presumably that would put the report’s release at closer to the end of April. So it’s going to take more than “a month” to get it out.
I think all of us want to know what happened to put 13 players in the hospital and how to keep it from happening again. Many of us think the university didn’t handle the initial PR very well, and in hindsight Ferentz should have returned earlier from the recruiting trail to see the players and to address the issue. He has acknowledged he made an error.
Whether or not there is a conspiracy, some stories by national writers by any objective measure have been totally off base, and one has to wonder about the intentions behind them. One CBSSports.com contributor did a 1,300-word piece saying mass transfers “could be the next stain” against Ferentz and Iowa, and laying out the entire NCAA transfer requirements and process, without one shred of evidence that even one hospitalized player is considering it. Everything about that piece came across as a hit job on Ferentz and the Hawkeyes, who just happened to defeat the writer’s alma mater in the Insight Bowl. (Draw your own conclusions.)
Then AP weighed in with a non-sensical story seeming to blast the head of UI sports medicine for being at a lush, tropical resort in Costa Rica for a conference of a group he leads when the rhabdo outbreak happened. Yet e-mails obtained by The Register show the doctor was plugged into the athletes’ conditions and treatment from a distance.
There was no reason for the doctor to return to Iowa City — the athletes were under the finest of care from specialists at UI Hospitals.
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I get that.. and I accept your apology..
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Good point by cylence1. In the final analysis the only summation one can draw from this is that the U of I was extremely cautious and measured in disseminating information. We also get a glimpse about how information is managed and the route it takes to get from the incident to the public eye. It seems that here is no right or wrong here, only documentation of a serious matter and how it gets processed. KF’s terse, scripted response should surprise no one. Right or wrong, unless you are on a reality show, ad lib and off the cuff comments are becoming very rare.
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[...] permalink Did anyone else read these emails? I skimmed through them and here is what it looks like. Ferentz did not write, read, or approve his press release before it went public. One email claiming Ferentz had NO contact with families the first 48 hours. Lots of damage control spin. Also lots of cell and office phone numbers including some of the ESPN guys. Go to link at bottom of article: Documents cite U of I concerns on what to release about hospitalized athletes | Hawk Central [...]
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People like the CycloneFanatic poster need to stop trying to create another big conspiracy theory. This was a very complicated matter and I’m sure there were many different views on how it would best be handled. That is a far cry from saying that it was some sinister plot to cover up some story. Everything has to be handled carefully, and comments like yours are the very reason for that. People (especially haters) just love to take any little fact and twist it to fit into their little conspiracy theories or anything they can to put a negative light on something. As far as your assertion that KF lied about contacting the parents, hogwash. If he said he called them as soon as he heard about the incident, then I believe him. He admitted that there were 4 parents he couldn’t reach so he left them a voicemail. There haven’t been any parents come forward and say he lied about that, so maybe you should stop with the insinuations.
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Consider the facts:
1. 13 football players are admitted to the hospital after going through a grueling workout supervised by the S&C coach.
2. The head football coach sees no reason to let this interrupt his recruiting trip.
3. The Athletic Director sees no reason to let this interrupt his trip to Florida for a golf fundraising event.
4. The team’s head doctor sees no reason to let this interrupt his professional conference at an expensive resort where the meeetings end at noon each day so attendees can take advantage of the Arnold Palmer designed golf course.
5. The folks who ARE left on campus to deal with this mess are mainly concerned about “managing the message”. Their first response to the public is that these workouts are allowable under NCAA guidelines (their concern for the 13 guys in the hospital is overwhelming). Then they draft a press release that goes out under Kirk’s name which Kirk had no input on.
This mess just exemplifies how clueless the University of Iowa and their Athletic Department really is. But, hey, as long as those Hawkeyes make it to a New Year’s Bowl game, that’s all that really matters, isn’t it? Go Hawks!
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You’re right. There shouldn’t be a single person at the University of Iowa who should be allowed to ever leave campus or town in the event that something happens that they wouldn’t be able to do anything about anyway. If they were in IC, it would have made everything better, right?
I guess the AD is now a doctor with input as to how to treat the players too? The emails we see are from the people who aren’t treating patients, their initial job is to determine how to convey the message because they knew that the media and folks like you were going to have a hay day with it. And wouldn’t you know it, they were right huh? They probably should have just said “screw it, we drove those players into the ground during a workout, let’s tell the public how awful our program is.” That would have made everything better!
Consider this.
1. The 13 players were immediately cared for by some of the best doctors in the country.
2. The fundraising events and medical conferences that the AD and head team doctor go to help make the University of Iowa what it is today. Have you heard of networking? It is vital to the success of any University, business or organization.
3. With technology these days, someone can be half way around the world and still be plugged into what is happening in Iowa City within seconds. You obviously seem upset that the first response by these guys was to determine how to convey the message. But then you appear to be upset with how the message came across. And you are upset that people were out of town when the message went out. I know I really get upset when the national news talks about something that is going on in my hometown, but then I find out that Matt Lauer isn’t even in the same town that he is reporting on. How could this be?!?! That isn’t acceptable!!!
Your post just exemplifies how clueless you are as to what goes on behind the scenes and what it takes to run a successful program (i.e. business, organization, charity, University etc.). I think your expectations have been inadequately managed.
And if you didn’t notice, Iowa didn’t make a New Years bowl game this year. Plus, there are too many crappy bowl games in January these days so no, that isn’t what people care about anymore.
Hopefully my heavy dose of sarcasm was picked up.
-Iowa Graduate
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To “Average”, “Joe” & whoever thinks they know & have all the “facts”—-forgetaboutit! You DON’T! You THINK you know it all but you are SO out there. Once this happened & for some reason still unknownst to us, it did, WHAT could Kirk have done to improve the situation by coming home early from a recruiting trip? And on all other “details you THINK YOY are such experts on”, let it play out to where a REAL investigation decides who, what, when, where & how on all of this. You are just a bunch of overly-opinionated bloggers who apparently don’t realize that issues are handled this way on YOUR favorite campus too. Bet on it!
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OOPS! I forgot WHY? As in WHY do you really have your noses in our business?
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Could Iowa please bring one major professional sports team to the state to keep people who have nothing better to do than go “All My Children” every time a headline comes out of IC? My God, it is pitiful. I have been following the blogs for years, and it is the same crap (and people) all the time. Doctors take care of business in their own time, and release information at their discrection. Coach, AD, strength coach, etc… are MORE than interested in what happened, and could not have assisted the tending physicians (who, we all know, are some of the best in the country, handle THEIR business) heal the players. It happened, it’s over,… to all you basement trolling hillbillies…next episode sure to come soon from somewhere in Iowa City.
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Turkiniowa,
As long as the Hawkeyes get to a bowl game, the assaults on female athletes, the botched drug testing, the long list of arrests, and yes, even the hospitalization of 13 players doesn’t matter, right? Go Hawks!
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