I have seen this in soccer plenty of times where a player would go down intentionally to stop the play of the game. Im not sure how popular it is in football but it has obviously occured enough to make an article about it. Two NFL player are accused of faking injuries against their opponent in order to take away their momentum. The players state that this is part of the game, what do you think?
As an athletic trainer student, I feel that this is very dangerous. An athletic trainer is always concerned with the well being of all their athletes. For players to treat a serious and potentially life threatening situation as a way to get an edge over an opponent is highly inappropriate. An athletic trainer must always react to every injury as a serious one and for football players to be doing this can greatly effect the athletic trainers work. Please read the article an tell me what you think.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/More-fallout-from-8220-Flopgate-8221-8212-?urn=nfl-wp7833
I've also seen this strategy used in soccer, but until yesterday, it hadn't occurred to me that it might be used in football as well. The college team I'm working with uses a no-huddle offense, and there were at least two critical points during our game yesterday that the opposing team called injury, and our team questioned the integrity of the injury call. I can't speak to the severity of the injuries on the opposing team, but I agree that faking an injury should always be discouraged.
ReplyDeleteThis is something I saw a few times last fall at my high school. More times than none the guys on soccer teams would go down after a bad play and roll on the ground for a little while and then all of a sudden get back up when the ball came back towards them. It would get frustrating because as an Athletic Trainer, you need to be ready to go onto the field at all times.
ReplyDeleteAs I become closer to becoming an Athletic Trainer, I too find this slightly discouraging. Coaches should teach their athletes not too do this because to them it may help draw a foul where to someone else it could mean something much more, like a serious injury. Obviously if the athlete doesn't get up right away then it could be a serious injury and treated accordingly. However, athletes should learn that their actions may be taken other ways and educated in this area.
Keon,
ReplyDeleteAs an athletic trainer I realize the importance of not having athletes faking injuries for a variety of reasons. My life experience has taught me that through gaining the respect of the athletes, coaches and administration, athletes respond in a manner that helps you provide the best health care possible.
As an observer, however, of ESPN, I do have to say I had a chuckle when I watched the video of the two players falling down - and knowing they were not really injured.