The Oregonian is reporting at least three Oregon Ducks football players are in the hospital following a series of “grueling strength and conditioning workouts” last week at the university. Multiple sources told the paper that players had to finish the same workout this week, with one witness saying it included up to an hour of continuous push-ups and up-downs.
The three players hospitalized are offensive lineman Doug Brenner, offensive lineman Sam Poutsai, and tight end Cam McCormick, according to the report. All three were hospitalized last week and remain in the hospital, with a hospital spokeswoman saying each were in fair condition. Poutsai’s mother spoke to the Oregonian:
Poutasi’s mother, Oloka, said that her son complained of very sore arms after the workouts and had been diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a syndrome in which soft muscle tissue is broken down with “leakage into the blood stream of muscle contents,” according to the NCAA medical handbook. Depending on the severity, it has the potential to lead to damaged kidneys.
The report later added that some players had complained about discolored urine and testing found some had “highly elevated levels of creatine kinase, an indicator of the syndrome.”
The report goes on to quote an unnamed Oregon official as saying the training staff didn’t see any players faint as well as provide a quote from the university about how the “safety and welfare of all of our student-athletes is paramount in all that we do.” New Oregon coach Willie Taggart visited some of the hospitalized players, per the report, before leaving to get back to out-of-state recruiting.
Thirteen Iowa players were hospitalized in 2011 under similar circumstances.