National Football League

Oregon Football: Players Sent To Hospital Following Conditioning Workouts

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:08 p.m. ET

Fansided, Justin Phillips/FanSided via Autzen Zoo

The Oregon Football team started off-season workouts last week with three players going to the hospital.

On Monday the Oregonian reported that three Oregon Football players were hospitalized after going through hard workout routines. Some players are saying that the workouts were not as hard as some in the media are making out, but it is clear that the new Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Ducks will need to reaccess the process since he was at USF.

Cam McCormick, Doug Brenner and Sam Poutasi are all in good condition at Riverbend Hospital in Springfield as of Tuesday evening according to Kristen Rogers from KEZI-TV. The workouts were based on Military Basic Traning and players were required to finish according to the report. Poutasi complained of sore arms and was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis.

According to WebMD, rhabdomyolysis is an indirect muscle injury that results in the death of muscle fibers. It is typical of crush type injuries in accidents. There is no word on recovery time for the Oregon Football players who suffered the injury.

The story was quick to make National Headlines and even got the attention of NFL Player Joe Thomas who called for the firing of Coach Taggart:

Whoever is behind this should be fired, nothing to do with football. Where’s @NCAA? How about protecting athletes instead of your paychecks! pic.twitter.com/glkPZfBp9G

— Joe Thomas (@joethomas73) January 17, 2017

Cornerback Ugo Amadi took the stance of his Teammates and Coaches saying ‘the workout is not what the media is making it out to be.” Regardless, there will likely be a watchful eye on the Program throughout the Spring.

With Oregon Football Coach Willie Taggart on the road, it is not known how involved he was in the Workouts that led to the players being hospitalized. He did make a visit to the hospital to visit them before leaving to recruit earlier this week.