In Pennsylvania: Trying to Make Football Injury-Free

By B.J. Plillips

The sun has just dropped behind the Pocono Mountains, its afterglow silhouetting plain wooden bleachers rapidly filling with fans. The Palmerton, Pa., high school band struts along the end zone, then turns smartly down the visiting team's sideline toward a roped-off section behind their players' bench. On the near side of the field, the band for Pleasant Valley High is already in place, alternating Sousa with the theme from Rocky, while cheerleaders flash blue and white pompoms. Five candidates for Pleasant Valley Homecoming Queen wait with feigned casualness in a special section, shyly grinning escorts at their sides. Just as it should be, the smell of burning leaves hangs in the cool air.

It is a perfect night for football. These are archrivals, the Palmerton Blue Bombers vs. the Pleasant Valley Bears, and they are contending before a homecoming crowd. At the kickoff the ball sails up, disappears in the darkness beyond the reach of the lights, then drops suddenly into view. A Palmerton deep back streaks to it, and is promptly buried under a swarm of blue jerseys.

The game's opening quarter is a mishmash of mistakes. The two teams play Alphonse and Gaston with turnovers, swapping fumbles and interceptions four times. Finally, Palmerton settles down and scores. Pleasant Valley's head coach, Tony Caracio, paces the sideline, trailing assistant coaches in his wake as he wigwags signals to his defensive unit. Pleasant Valley fans sit in miserable silence. At times the only sound is the popping of shoulder pads and the grunt of linemen.

But a tall, gray-haired man in rimless glasses standing by the Pleasant Valley bench smiles happily. He is Hugo Verbruggen, M.D., Ph.D., fellow of the American College of Surgeons and of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, a distinguished doctor who acts as team physician to the Bears because his son once Clayed football with them. Dr. Verbruggen sees the game of football from a slightly different perspective. "It rained a few days ago," he remarks. "The field has dried out enough for good footing, but the ground is still nice and soft. You don't get as many injuries in these conditions."

If Verbruggen is proved right, that will make the game unusual, if not here, at least in the U.S. in general. Injuries-the annual toll of broken bones, torn ligaments, concussion and, occasionally, paralysis or death-are football's current shame. This fall, a million high school boys will be injured playing football. Most will suffer minor muscle pulls; others will walk the rest of their lives on aching knees. A few will die. While Pleasant Valley and Palmerton are playing in Pennsylvania, a 16-year-old boy in Oklahoma dies of head injuries en route to the hospital during halftime. If anything, the damage is worse in college and pro ball. Before this season ends, 70,000 players from 900 colleges will be injured. And in the National Football League the official injury rate is 100%.

Dr. Verbruggen, who took over as team physician two years ago, believes clean play can cut injuries dramatically. "My favorite play is an incomplete pass," says he. "Nobody ever gets hurt in high school on an incomplete pass because there's no hitting. In the pros, receivers get pounded whether or not they catch the ball." Racking up the empty-handed receiver is just one practice in the N.F.L. that angers and frustrates Verbruggen and Pleasant Valley's coaches, because it invites imitation. Spearing (the vicious ramming of a downed player with the hardshell helmet), late hits, chop blocks, open taunts and intimidation are regular fare on Sunday-afternoon TV. Says Assistant Coach Gary Bruch: "We're out there five days a week trying to teach high school kids to be good sports, working on the right ways to tackle and block. Then they go home and watch television, and what do they see? Pro players dancing in the end zone and spiking the ball to humiliate opponents, spearing, taking cheap shots."

One way to correct that kind of example and avoid injury is strict rules, strictly enforced. New rules for high school football in Pennsylvania call for automatic ejection for spearing, but coaches and players say referees either rarely see spearing or else fail to enforce the rule. Other ways to reduce physical damage at Pleasant Valley, thanks largely to Verbruggen, involve careful medical checkups and new and better ways of conditioning. "We don't even do traditional calisthenics any more," says Head Coach Tony Caracio. "One of the drills-walking 20 yds. on the inside of your feet, then 20 yds. on the outside to build ankle strength and flexibility-looks so weird that we're embarrassed to do it before a game, where people can see us. But we haven't had any ankle injuries since Doc told us to try it."

The Bears do, indeed, forgo the mincing ankle exercise this night. But a visitor also notices that the rest of their pre-game ritual would be more familiar to Mikhail Baryshnikov than Don Meredith Pairing off to use one another's backs as ballet bars, they stretched and flexed their legs, loosening hamstring and groin muscles that are always vulnerable to injury. In slow, progressive steps, they worked kinks out of their necks and backs. A perfunctory round of jumping-jack hops is the only recognizable survivor from football calisthenics past. "The wrong kind of exercise can cause injury," Verbruggen notes. "Deep knee bends alone are all right, but those duck-walks you always see teams doing will tear more cartilage in the knee than any game."

Palmerton rolls up two more touchdowns, taking advantage of its average 25-lb. weight advantage on the line and a new razzle-dazzle shotgun formation. Palmerton's big fullback drags tacklers along like reluctant dance partners. Unable to earn a first down, the Bears are forced to punt again and again. Dr. Verbruggen shakes his head and looks grim. "See No. 24 there," he says. "He's going to hurt his hand. He's cold, and he's rubbing them between every play. That means he can't coordinate them well, and he'll end up jamming a finger or getting stepped on." True to prediction, Defensive Back Alan Johnson's right hand is raked by a cleat. At halftime, Verbruggen has to treat him for a bruise and deep scrape.

Johnson's hurt hand and a lineman's bruised leg are the only injuries during the first half. Trailing 19-0, the team clumps into the school cafeteria. Nobody mentions bruises, but the coaches spot trouble and call Verbruggen. "I get tremendous cooperation from the coaches. Sometimes they don't let a kid play even after I think he's fit. I agreed to be team physician on the condition that my word was final in keeping a boy out. But I never expected to have trouble getting a kid in."

In the second half, Pleasant Valley controls the game, driving inside Palmerton's 20-yd. line, but fails to score. Late in the third period, a touchdown pass is called back when an official spots an ineligible receiver downfield. "We need a touchdown," Dr. Verbruggen growls. But he wants the Bears to score for a special reason. "When kids get discouraged, their reflexes aren't sharp. They run at somebody halfheartedly. That's when they get hurt. It's even worse with younger kids. If it were up to me, I would eliminate all peewee and junior high school football. If you break or damage the growth plates of the bones at that age, the boy could end up with one arm or leg shorter than the other."

Pleasant Valley has another touchdown nullified by a minor penalty, but in the game's closing seconds, a third touchdown pass by the Bears' 140-lb. sophomore quarterback stays on the Scoreboard. The final score: Palmerton 19, Pleasant Valley 7. Yet it is not until Dr. Verbruggen follows the Bears into the locker room and makes a final check on the night's bumps and bruises that he is sure all his conditioning has paid off. There are no injuries that won't pretty well heal over the weekend. "Football is a game that can be played hard and well without injuries," says Verbruggen as he closes his black bag. "Tonight I'm happy." -B.J. Phillips

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.