Want to know why the NFL is putting so much emphasis on eliminating vicious helmet-to-helmet hits from the game of football? Then look no further than the tragic tale coming out of Brocton, N.Y. right now.
During a high school football game on Friday night, Brocton Central School running back/defensive back Damon Janes sustained a helmet-to-helmet hit on a play. The 16-year-old was able to get up afterwards and leave the field on his own. But a few seconds later, he collapsed and lost consciousness on the sideline and had to be rushed to the Women's & Children's Hospital of Buffalo. And sadly, he died there yesterday afternoon due to the trauma that was caused by the hit that he took.
"Our heart goes out to the Janes family," Gary Swetland, the head coach of Brocton's opponent Portville, said yesterday. "It's just a tragic, tragic circumstance. Our players are saddened, our families our saddened, our school is saddened, our coaches are saddened, our officials are saddened, bus drivers, everybody. There is no one who isn't desperately saddened by this."
You can include us in that, too. What a truly sad situation.
[via Max Preps]
