The Texas Department of Child and Protective Services is investigating an incident that left several high school football players hospitalized, according to WFAA-TV.
At Rockwall-Heath High School, east of Dallas, head coach John Harrell put the football team through an hour-long offseason workout. The workout itself seems standard, but players were required to do 16 pushups for each mistake made through the hour-long workout.
Harrell counted 23 mistakes, which equated to 368 push-ups in addition to the workout.
“Our motto, it’s number 16," team captain Brady Luff told the station. "Sixteen ball games to win a championship. We do these workouts and it’s all bout discipline. If we get them right, we move on. If not, we do 16 push-ups.”
The workout occurred on Friday, Jan. 6, and symptoms manifested over the weekend. Dr. Osehotue Okojie told KDFW-TV her son was hospitalized Monday, Jan. 9, and remained there until the following Sunday.
Rockwall ISD sent a letter on Tuesday, Jan. 10, it was aware of the incident and the resulting hospitalizations. The letter described rhabdo-like symptoms and encouraged others to seek medical attention as necessary. That same letter informed parents Harrell has been placed on administrative leave, where he remains as of this writing.
The district did not specify how many students were hospitalized.
Rhabdomyolysis can result in permanent damage and even death if serious enough and left untreated.
“When my son said his wrist was hurting, one of the coaches said to him, ‘Your wrist should be healed by now, keep going,” Dr. Okojie said.
A Rockwall ISD spokesman told WFAA that Harrell, Rockwall-Heath's head coach since 2021 after serving two seasons as assistant head coach and run game coordinator, remains on leave until the completion of a third-party investigation by a local law firm.
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