Dallas high school football player dies
Brown, 17, didn't have physical exam before first practice
DALLAS - A football player at Carter High School died after the team's first practice of the season.
Senior Eric Brown, 17, was Carter's 5-foot-11, 275-pound center. He finished practice around noon Monday and went home, where he fell ill, a school district spokesman said.
"He seemed to be in good spirits after practice," Troy Mathieu, spokesman for the Dallas Independent School District, told The Dallas Morning News. "Once he got home, he started experiencing complications and his sister dialed 911."
Brown died at a hospital later Monday. The Dallas County Medical Examiner's office said Tuesday that the cause of death had not been determined.
The player's father, Edward Brown, said his son had no pre-existing health conditions but had not undergone a physical before the first practice.
Temperatures reached the mid 90s Monday, but Mathieu said authorities had not determined whether heat was a factor.
The National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury reports that 21 young football players have died from heat stroke in the past eight years, although none had last year.
D.W. Rutledge, executive vice president of the Texas High School Coaches' Association, said most cases of player death are from heart conditions. The state's coaches typically make sure players are hydrated and safe from the heat, he said.
"They try to keep a close eye on the kids," Rutledge said. "You have water available to them all the time; if any of them get dizzy or anything ... try to get them out of the heat and move them inside."
Edward Brown said witnesses told him his son and another player collapsed on the field during practice and were iced down by players and coaches.
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