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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Every Friday night during the fall, hundreds of football players across the State of Alabama strap up their helmets and take the field with their team. They are all well aware of the risks and abnormal things that could happen on any given play on a football field, but they do not let that distract them from the task at hand on the field.

When those abnormal situations do appear, and those risks of playing the game that thousands of people across Alabama love appear, it must not be deemed just an unfortunate incident, but also spark change. It was extremely saddening to hear about Caden Tellier’s passing this past weekend, especially in such close proximity to Chilton County. It is sad, unfortunate, and honestly, a little worrisome.

Those risks that come with playing football are normally overlooked as extreme situations, much like a rare disease. You do not want to live in fear of those things, so you push it out of your mind and go about your way. That is the same thing football players do. They understand the risks, but their love for the game and want to play overshadows those risks, and they pushed it out of their heads. Those extreme situations arrived for Morgan Academy on Aug. 23, and I hope the entire state surrounds them with love and support to help them through this difficult time.

Every Friday night during the fall for the past eight years I have loaded up the car and covered high school football around the state. After each Friday night there is a little part of me that is thankful that all of those young men are able to continue the next day with just some minor bumps and bruises. Football is a violent game. It was very violent when I first started watching in the early 2000s, and although upgrades to equipment and changes to rules have helped, the violence in the sport of football will always be there. But that is what makes people watch, and the reason why players want to play. There is no taking it out of the game, so it must be monitored and toned down in certain aspects.

This was the second death of a player in Alabama coming directly from football within the last month, and I hope these unfortunate events can bring to light some of the additional safety measures that need to be taken seriously to keep all players safe. New Brockton High School’s Semaj Wilkins passed away after collapsing on the field during a team practice where temperatures reached as high as 96 degrees.

I am not saying these young men were not taken care of prior. Their deaths were rare instances, and no one is at fault. I do, however, hope these events will spark even more determination in continuing to improve safety measures around high school football in Alabama.

The AHSAA has put in mandates to help eliminate the long practices in the heat and contact practices that make blows to the head a more common occurrence, the two things that led to the deaths of the two student athletes this month. While good work has been done, I hope these two events will open the eyes of administration to realize there is still a lot of work to be done. Whether it is fundamental videos on how to properly tackle without your head or workshops for coaches on proper hydration of players, work to ensure that no student body loses a member on a football field again needs to continue.

I wish the students, teachers and staff at both Morgan Academy and New Brockton nothing but the best during this difficult time, and The Clanton Advertiser is keeping both families and schools in our prayers.