The most common side effects associated with the prescription painkiller oxycodone include drowsiness, headache, dizziness, tired feeling, dry mouth, nausea, and constipation. So, it seems like it would be a pretty freaking dumb idea to pop an oxycodone pill before playing in a football game.
But according to a Deadspin report, that’s exactly what a group of high school players from New York did before a game last Friday night. The seven players, who are, er, were on the Geneseo High School team in Geneseo, New York, popped the pills just before taking the field for a game against Bolivar-Richburg High School. The pills reportedly came from the home of one of the player’s parents. And miraculously, the Geneseo team went on to win their game 26-24, despite whatever side effects some players did or didn’t suffer during the contest.
However, after the game was over, one of the players who wasn’t a part of the pill-popping spilled the beans and told a coach about the players taking the oxycodone pills prior to the game. That led to an investigation into what happened, and eventually, the school deciding to pull the plug on the remainder of the team's football season.
Geneseo Central Schools Superintendent Tim Hayes held a press conference this week and said that the players who used the pills before the game were kicked off the team immediately. But unfortunately for those who were left, it meant that they wouldn’t actually have enough players to field a team during their remaining games. So the school had no choice but to put an end to the season, which punished the players who didn’t take the pills just as much as it did the players who took them.
The police might also get involved in all of this before it’s over. Geneseo Police Chief Eric Osganian said his department is currently looking into the situation and could charge some of the players who took oxycodone before the recent game. So if there’s a lesson to be learned here, it’s that it’s definitely a bad idea to take pills before playing football, even if you don’t end up dealing with any of the side effects listed above.
