Fatal Football
One hot summer day last August, a Kentucky high school football coach named David Jason Stinson decided that his players needed to be pushed at practice to perform to his standards. The team ran what are called “gassers” — sprints up and down the field — to build stamina. One onlooker reportedly said the jeering of players by Stinson and his staff was “appalling.” Stinson himself allegedly vowed that the sprints would continue until one player quit the team for good.
A player collapsed and was taken to a shady area to recover. Apparently that didn’t make Coach Stinson call off the sprints. A second player — David Englert — actually did quit the team, which might have been satisfying in some sadistic way to Stinson. But it was too late. Fifteen-year-old sophomore Max Gilpin fell to the ground. He died three days later of heat stroke, septic shock and organ failure.
Coach Stinson has now been indicted by a grand jury. He is charged with reckless homicide, meaning he should have known that his behavior could lead to Gilpin’s death.
Stinson knows plenty about football. He played college ball and in the NFL for a short time. Indeed, he would have known that heat-related deaths do occur among high school players, college players and the pros. And he was the one who was supposed to protect his team.
Something went horribly wrong. In Stinson, the equilibrium that a coach needs to demonstrate between motivating players and nurturing them went fatally out of balance. For reasons I can only speculate upon, he needed to prove he was tougher than the high school kids on the field. Maybe the memory of his season with the New York Giants seemed to be fading. Maybe he needed to remind everyone what it takes to really make it to the pros. Maybe he worried he never really had made it big himself.
Whatever weakness resided inside David Jason Stinson seems to have translated into an inhuman and deadly set of circumstances that August day. It’s always that way when one person knowingly puts another in mortal danger. It’s about what’s broken inside the man or woman orchestrating the emotional or physical violence. It’s about old injuries to that person’s self-esteem creating new and potent risks for others. It’s about the recycling of psychological pain into something virulent that can kill.
Don’t be confused by the fact that the teenagers put in harm’s way were football players. Don’t lose sight of the fact that, athlete or not, Max Gilpin wasn’t even old enough to drive. He needed Stinson to look out for him, not goad him to risk his life to prove he was a man.
Stinson reportedly brought a photograph of Gilpin to every practice following the player’s death. He has also reportedly commented that he lost a boy that fateful day, too.
The trouble is, carrying a photograph of your victim around isn’t appropriate. It shows a lack of insight and sensitivity. And as someone who has counseled more than my fair share of bereaved parents, I’d guess that Stinson knows almost nothing about the depth and intensity of the Gilpins’ loss. Pretending otherwise adds insult to the fatal injury inflicted on Max Gilpin.
Dr. Keith Ablow is a psychiatry correspondent for FOX News Channel and a New York Times bestselling author. His newest book, “Living the Truth: Transform Your Life through the Power of Insight and Honesty” has launched a new self-help movement. Check out Dr. Ablow’s website at livingthetruth.com or e-mail him at info@keithablow.com.
Tags: coach, David Jason Stinson, Dr. Keith Ablow, football player, heat stroke, high school football, Kentucky, Max Gilpin, organ failure, reckless homicide, self-esteem, septic shock
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Obviously you aren’t seeing a whole picture and are also making amny assumptions based on just what some say . As you seem to be involved in truth seeking; you may want to hold off till THE TRUTH is all ion;otherwise does possibly false assumptions go against what you strive for?
Are you a Christian?cindy burns
Very unfortunate death and desimation of trust. Those boys trusted this idiot and left everything on the field for this guy……this “ex-football player” that thinks everyone needs to be on his training program…I see it all the time in youth sports. High-level athelete takes up coaching and trys elevating relative beginners too fast. I hate coaches like this. Hope he gets justice.
As I see it there are two types of coaches, those that are educated, and those who are not.
Those who are educated have had actual classes in Anatomy and physiology learning not just everything they can get their hands on about sprains, strains, bruises, contusions, concussions and fractures. These are the coaches who learned about the necessity of hydration, heat stroke, heat exhaustion, and kidney failure in the same classroom they learned the differences of pediatrics and adult A&P. These are the coaches who make themselves available every single day of the season to run the sprints and long distances with the kids in the heat of the day, encouraging the kids to try and beat THEIR times, knowing also that the kids are younger and perhaps realizing that the personal best of these youngsters may be seconds or minutes more than the coaches’ best. Do your best is their motto.
In vast opposition to the educated coaches are those that are not educated. They stand along the sidelines with a huge paunch yelling at the kids, berating them for everything they do. They are the ones who think exercising without hydrating makes one strong. They can’t run the quarter mile in anything less than 2 minutes and 30 seconds. They know alot about the game, but not how to mold and create the best athlete out of the bodies that come before them. They know nothing about A&P , positive re-enforcement or encouragement.
Most are a little of both.
I have dealt with “coaches” like this before, if what is stated is true he needs to be in jail and banned from coaching forever.
There is a HUGE difference between pushing kids to their limits, and abusing them. This story reads to the abusive end. As a coach I always push my kids, and taunt them a little, but I always take the time to assess how they are performing. You can tell immediately, if you have any type of coaching knowledge, when someone is dogging and when someone is at their end.
Also when training in high temps like he was, it’s mandatory to schedule 10 minute water breaks and cool down exercises every 20 – 30 minutes, it’s enough to push, but not enough to hurt.
And real coaches take the time during those breaks to see how the kids are holding up, I talk to them, look them in the eyes, see how they are, not just run em til someone quits.
If what is stated is true than this reads like the reckless homicide charge is accurate. Sorry but this guy is no coach, no matter what level he played at.
Another story to add to this tragic and perplexing phenomenon of “coaches gone bad”:
My cousin’s stepson attended prep school last fall, where he joined the Lacrosse team. Apparently, this school had kind of a “tough love” thing going on…
One day the boy committed some minor infraction (possibly arriving late for practice, flubbing a pass, or not doing a pushup with the proper enthusiasm–I’m not exactly sure). The coach came up with what he believed to be the warranted punishment:
He had the offensive boy stand in the middle of the field and call out (“1! 2! 3! 4!…”) the number of laps the rest of the team was forced by the coach to run, until the coach finally decided he’d made his twisted point. The number of laps ended up being unusually high.
My cousin’s stepson was unable to sleep for weeks, for fear of retribution from his teammates.
One has to wonder what would cause this coach (or anyone) to evolve into such a sadistic “adult”.
No one is born “evil” or cruel, and yet, these folks keep on being created (by the treatment they’ve received in life, I believe), and keep on causing trauma to other vulnerable folks who will likely continue the cruelty in perpetuity.
There’s gotta be a better way.