Don E. Watt on “Football Team’s Injuries Mount”

Dear Editor:

I would like to comment on an article titled “Football Team’s Injuries Mount” printed in the sports section of The Eagle dated Sept. 15, 2011.

The statement that Dominic Morris’s head injury was “compounded through a concussion caused by an automobile accident” is conjecture.  I was personally involved along with other medical professionals who cleared Dominic to return to football after his car wreck.  The process for clearance covered the lack of any post-accident symptoms, i.e.:  headaches, photophobia, disorientation, and cognitive level monitoring.

Upon being cleared, Dominic was not allowed to resume football practice in totality but limited to conditioning, footwork drills, and other non-contact drills.  Dominic was allowed to progress to full contact practices after he exhibited no signs or symptoms of post-concussion trauma.  Dominic played the entire game against the University of Mary and took many hard hits.  If the writer of this article could have watched the video of the hit, he would have seen the hit was not a direct impact but a shearing type force that went from back to front along the right side of Dominic’s head.

I personally asked the neurosurgeon, “Was this a new blood clot or an old one?” and was told this was a new injury.  As the head athletic trainer for Chadron State, I would never allow any athlete to put his or her life and health in jeopardy by letting he or she return before they were ready and medically cleared.

Is it possible that the trauma from the car wreck contributed to Dominic’s injury?  I don’t think anyone can say definitively, but there will surely be those who will have their opinion.  I do know the morning after Dominic’s surgery at 8:30 A.M. when I walked into his room in the ICU “he was sitting up in bed, texting his friends, and craving lemonade”.

—Don E. Watt,

 CSC Head Athletic Trainer