| Thursday, January 17, 2019 |
| Maroon Alert emergency notification system enhanced with new features | |
 | Mississippi State is upgrading its Maroon Alert emergency notification system, which sends important messages to students, faculty and staff on existing or imminent threats, such as inclement weather. A new technical support system is being implemented that will allow users to receive messages through multiple avenues, including a smartphone app, SMS text messages, email and calls. The university is partnering with Everbridge, an industry leader in emergency messaging, to provide several enhancements to the Maroon Alert system. In addition to the new smartphone app, additional upgrades include faster delivery speeds, personalized weather notifications, community messaging and more. MSU Emergency Manager Brent Crocker said a system-wide test of the enhanced Maroon Alert system is scheduled for Friday [Jan. 18] at noon. Text messages will originate from a new number, and Crocker is asking people to add 89361 to their phone contacts and name it Maroon Alert. The Friday test is expected to conclude by 12:10 p.m. |
| Mississippi State named finalist in national voting campaign to house Camp Kesem chapter | |
| Mississippi State University is participating in a national voting campaign that would give the university a chapter of Camp Kesem this fall. Founded at Stanford University in 2000, Camp Kesem is the flagship program of Los Angeles-based Kesem, a nationwide community of passionate college student leaders driven to support children age 6 to 18 with a parent who has been impacted by cancer. "The demand for more Camp Kesem chapters nationally is phenomenal," said Susan Brooks, business manager for MSU's Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President and chair of MSU's Staff Council. "With more than 5 million children in the U.S. impacted by a parent's cancer, Kesem needs to continue expanding to support more children." As part of Camp Kesem's "Chapter Expansion Campaign," students, faculty, staff and the general public will be able to vote once daily from Jan. 28-Feb. 1 at http://vote.campkesem.org. |
| Lynn Fitch hits campaign trail for attorney general | |
 | State Treasurer Lynn Fitch has announced her candidacy for attorney general, touting her fiscal conservatism, management experience and policy positions. Fitch voiced her intentions last year, but formally announced her candidacy in a statewide tour this week, including a stop at the Lee County Justice Center in Tupelo on Wednesday. "I have kept my promises to the voters and am now asking you for the opportunity to serve as your attorney general," Fitch said. "I am uniquely qualified to serve as your attorney general." In pitching her candidacy, Fitch emphasized management experience within state government and her legal career, including work as an attorney within the attorney general's office, private practice and for the legislature. "These broad experiences and my skill set in law, policy, finance and administration have distinctively prepared me to be your attorney general," Fitch said. |
| House passes rural broadband bill | |
 | The Mississippi House of Representatives has passed the first step toward allowing rural Mississippians to be able to have access to high-speed internet service through their local power cooperatives. The Mississippi Broadband Enabling Act passed the House on a 115-3 vote and is headed to the state Senate for consideration. "We recognized years ago there was a broadband gap, there was a rural-urban gap," said Northcentral Electric Power Association General Manager Kevin Doddridge. "Electric coops have been installing fiber for years for connectivity to our substations, for metering purposes, voltage control, all types of things." Doddridge acknowledged the bipartisan tone of House members in passing the legislation. "I've got to admit, from my observation, it involved Democrats and Republicans working together and that is something I have not seen in Jackson in quite some time," the Northcentral general manager said. |
| Report Finds Cigarette Fee, Bariatric Surgery Could Save Medicaid Dollars | |
 | Mississippi is one of only three states in the nation where Medicaid doesn't cover bariatric surgeries. That's according to Dr. Steve Demetropoulos, head of the legislature's Medicaid Care Advisory Committee. He says the surgeries could pay for themselves after four years by reducing the need for medical care that's associated with obesity and the cost of medicines. "All those complications related to high blood pressure and diabetes like heart disease, like strokes, amputations. We're talking about huge amounts of money that we save by getting their weight down so that they don't require as much medication or maybe any at all," said Demetropoulos. Demetropoulos is sharing the report written by the committee which is comprised of health care providers. They're charged with helping the state Division of Medicaid reduce costs and improve health outcomes. |
| Fed chairman Jerome Powell plans Delta trip to spotlight economic hardship, talk solutions | |
 | Federal workers continue to face working without pay or minimal pay as the partial government shutdown hits its 25th day -- the longest shutdown in U.S. history. But, while the government continues its shutdown, residents in the Mississippi Delta have faced economic hardships for decades -- low pay, scattered jobs and limited affordable housing options. In Itta Bena, a town of more than 1,800, where the median household income is around $19,000, 44 percent of people live in poverty, according to Census data. The unemployment rate in Mississippi stands at 4.1 percent, but 14 Delta counties exceed that amount. In Leflore County, where Itta Bena is located, the unemployment rate is 5.9 percent. It's here that Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, will make his first trip to the Mississippi Delta to speak on the financial hardships of areas with persistent poverty in America -- areas like Itta Bena -- and offer solutions to closing financial gaps. |
| Shutdown Hits Mississippi Harder than 90 Percent of States | |
| The ongoing federal government shutdown is doing more damage in Mississippi than in most states, an analysis finds. Mississippi ranks eighth, according to WalletHub, thanks in part to its share of federal workers and its dependence on federal programs. WalletHub determined Mississippi's ranking after looking at all 50 states and the District of Columbia and considered in each the share of federal jobs, contract dollars per capita, the percent of families receiving food stamps, real estate as a percentage of gross product and national parks access. At 18 percent, a higher percentage of Mississippi families receives SNAP, or food stamp, benefits than any state in the nation. In Mississippi, the shutdown affects about 500 U.S. Justice Department employees including FBI agents, more than 1,600 U.S. Agriculture Department employees and 400 NASA employees. They are among more than 800,000 federal employees who are working without pay or on furlough until the shutdown ends. |
| WIC to continue through February despite shutdown | |
| Mississippi has received enough money to keep a federally funded nutrition program going through February despite a partial government shutdown that has paralyzed nearly a dozen federal agencies. On Wednesday, the state Department of Health, which administers the Women, Infants and Children program, announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture had secured enough funding to keep the WIC program going for another month, even though the USDA is one of the agencies affected by the shutdown. "Through the USDA's flexibility with funding, our services to pregnant women and children will not be interrupted at this time, and for that we are grateful," said Dr. Thomas Dobbs, the state health officer. The WIC Program is a supplemental nutrition program for pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women as well as infants and children under five. |
| Farmers cut off from their federal lifelines as shutdown persists | |
 | With the growing season just months away, some farmers say the government shutdown is threatening their ability to buy seeds, land and fertilizer in time to plant major crops like corn and wheat this year. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced Wednesday a temporary stopgap by opening for three days many of the department's field offices, but that step will only be to help farmers with urgent business like tax filings and with servicing loans already on the books. The USDA employees, part of the department's Farm Service Agency, won't be approving the billions in annual new loans that many farmers rely on for cash flow through the growing season. The shutdown is adding to the economic downturn, trade conflicts and other problems that farmers face. Shuttered FSA field offices means farmers can't discuss their financing options for purchasing new land, or receive market reports that help them make planting decisions. Producers hit by retaliatory tariffs who had yet to apply for the Trump administration's $12 billion trade aid will have to wait for a resolution to the impasse in Washington. |
| No pay. No retirement. No stink bugs by mail. The shutdown pain is spreading | |
| No paychecks. No experiments. No reviews of grant applications. And no stink bugs by mail. The financial, empirical, and entomological consequences of the partial shutdown of the U.S. government for science multiplied this week, as it became the longest such closure in history. More than a half-dozen agencies that fund or conduct research, including NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), have been partly paralyzed since 22 December 2018. And the fight between Congress and President Donald Trump over spending $5.7 billion on a border wall, which has shuttered about one-quarter of the federal government, shows no signs of being resolved. The impasse has already meant a lost paycheck for some 800,000 federal employees, as well as missed payments for thousands more contractors and academic researchers. |
| Nasty or frugal? Key Democrats out to stop House members from living in offices | |
 | Members of the House of Representatives who live in their Capitol Hill offices shouldn't get too comfortable. The practice is going under the knife from the new Democratic leadership. Top Democrats are considering making the live-in lawmakers pay for bunking in prime government real estate -- or ending the practice altogether. "How would you feel about attending a meeting in someone's bedroom?" asked Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, a veteran member of the Congressional Black Caucus, which has spoken against the practice for years. Office-dwellers counter that the practice is frugal and efficient. "A lot of our Republican colleagues are very hard on people in public housing ... when they in fact are living in public housing, without paying any taxes on it," said Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-Louisiana, a former caucus chairman. Thompson called the practice "nasty," saying it's freeloading on the government's dime. |
| EPA nominee Andrew Wheeler says climate change neither a hoax nor 'greatest crisis' | |
 | Andrew Wheeler, President Trump's nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, told a Senate panel Wednesday that he does not believe climate change is the "greatest crisis" and vowed to continue the administration's agenda of rolling back environmental regulations. Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist who replaced Scott Pruitt to become acting EPA chief last year, faced pointed questions from Democratic senators who sought to cast him as a lackey for the fossil fuel industry and polluters. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who focused on Wheeler's previous work for a coal firm, described him as someone who has his "thumb, wrist, forearm and elbow on the scales" in favor of the energy industry. Speaking before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Wheeler defended his efforts to relax clean air and water rules as necessary to spur economic growth. He highlighted nearly three-dozen different efforts to roll back regulations since Trump became president. A report published in November, compiled by 13 federal agencies --- including the EPA --- found that global warming poses a profound threat to human life, the environment and the nation's economy. |
| 'Not enough staffers to go around:' Democrats face talent shortage for 2020 campaigns | |
| As more Democratic presidential hopefuls inch closer to entering the 2020 contest, many are running into an early roadblock: There aren't enough staffers for everyone. In the critical early voting states, there are a limited number of high-level operatives with presidential campaign experience available to the upwards of two dozen potential candidates. And with no clear frontrunner, plus several big names whose intentions remain unclear, some staffers are hesitant to sign on to a campaign right away. "There are not enough staffers to go around," said Jerry Crawford, a veteran of several Democratic presidential campaigns in Iowa. "It's a reflection that a lot of candidates won't have the resources to be competitive." Those who are in the limited pool of talent for 2020 will have to decide whether signing on with a candidate early, which could allow them to have a senior role and provide a possible path to the White House, is worth the risk of the campaign flaming out quickly. |
| MUW confirms on-campus shooting was self-inflicted | |
 | Authorities have confirmed a Jan. 4 shooting on the Mississippi University for Women campus was intentionally self-inflicted, according to information the university released this morning. MUW will pursue no charges in the incident, a university press release said. Emergency first responders rushed to campus just before 1 p.m. Jan. 4, after reports of a shot fired in front of Whitfield Hall. Less than 10 minutes later, MUW tweeted through its a W Alert System giving a description of a suspect at large. A campus lockdown followed, as did an hours-long manhunt on campus that even spilled into downtown Columbus. By that evening, however, the lockdown was lifted and authorities began investigating the possibility of the shooting being self-inflicted. Today, the MUW press release said authorities obtained statements from all parties involved confirming that suspicion. |
| USM Police to train bomb sniffing, tracking dog | |
 | The University of Southern Mississippi Police Department has a new four-legged police officer, who will soon be walking a beat. "Myles" is a female Belgian Malinois who turns a year old next week. She and her handler, Officer Annie Bourgoyne, will undergo three months of intensive training together beginning next week. Myles will be used for bomb detection and tracking. Private donations paid for Myles and is funding her training. The donations were made through the USM Foundation. "We'll sweep the stadium and everything like that, anything that needs to be swept around campus," said Bourgoyne. "We'll do functions, graduations, any kind of tracking, if we need to track a suspect or just we've got to find somebody." |
| U. of Tennessee rape, drugging victim: 'I don't want him to get away with it' | |
 | The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, student who reported being drugged and sexually assaulted in an on-campus fraternity house less than two months ago said her memories of the night end before the date even began. The 18-year-old freshman said she and her roommate were drugged and raped by a longtime friend in his room at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house after the three attended a formal on the night of Nov. 29. The News Sentinel does not identify rape victims. She said she does not remember most of the night, and blacked out before the formal began. Later she tried to piece things together by talking to other fraternity members and an Uber driver who drove them home after the formal. "We were people that he knew and trusted," she said. "We were close with him. I can't imagine what he would do to someone he didn't know. I would really like to put (the accused) in jail. It was not okay at all, and I don't want him to get away with it." |
| U. of Kentucky puts dean at the center of a whistleblower lawsuit on administrative leave | |
 | The dean of the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry, who was at the center of a whistleblower lawsuit after he allegedly unlawfully fired a faculty member who was critical of Gov. Matt Bevin, has been placed on administrative leave and granted a one-year sabbatical Stephanos Kyrkanides will begin "a one-year sabbatical/administrative leave immediately, but remains a faculty member in the College of Dentistry," Provost David Blackwell wrote in an email Wednesday morning. He did not give any reasons for the change, but said he would soon be meeting with the college's leadership team to discuss interim leadership. Kyrkanides is slated to return to UK as a member of the faculty, said UK spokesman Jay Blanton. Kyrkanides will be paid 75 percent of his current salary of $383,680, so he will receive $287,760 while on leave. |
| No increase for Missouri higher ed in state budget | |
 | Higher education institutions wouldn't receive an increase in their basic state funding next year or money for major capital improvements like the University of Missouri's Translational Precision Medicine Complex under the budget proposed Wednesday by Gov. Mike Parson.The fiscal 2020 budget for the year beginning July 1 is based on a continued expectation that revenues will rebound when Missourians start filing their income tax forms. University of Missouri System leaders praised Parson and lawmakers "for their commitment to higher education" in a news release that did not mention that the governor did not endorse funding two of the system's highest priorities --- additional state support and construction funding. "I would like to thank Governor Parson and the entire Missouri legislature for their commitment to public higher education," UM President Mun Choi said in the release. "I know our elected officials have a difficult job ahead and must balance many needs." |
| Colleges, accreditors push back on Trump admin proposal to alter standards for oversight groups | |
 | Trump administration officials say that the rules governing college accreditors have become too prescriptive and too limiting of innovation in higher ed -- a problem they're trying to tackle by overhauling the regulations for the higher ed watchdogs. But a proposal offered as part of a regulatory rollback by the Education Department could create huge disruptions for the regional accreditors that oversee more than 3,000 colleges across the country. The department wants to require that regional accreditors operate in no fewer than three but no more than nine contiguous states, a standard multiple organizations would fail to meet. The issue is among a number of disputed ideas up for consideration during a negotiated rule-making process that has gotten off to a contentious start at the Education Department this week and will continue for the next two months. For the higher ed stakeholders charged with considering the package of rule changes, it wasn't clear what problem the idea was supposed to solve. |
| Ed. Dept. OKs Federal Funds for Western Governors U., Suggesting Rule Changes for Online Programs | |
 | For Western Governors University and the U.S. Department of Education, what amounts to "regular and substantive interaction" between a professor and students was a $713-million question. Now, as the department begins the negotiated rulemaking process to reach agreement on proposed changes in regulations for higher education, that question is on the table again. Last week the department restored its approval for Western Governors, a nonprofit online institution that uses competency-based education, to receive federal financial aid for its students. This was after a blistering 2017 audit by the department's inspector general, requiring the university to return $713 million in aid. It was deemed not eligible for that aid because students lacked the necessary level of interaction with instructors. The department now says Western Governors does not have to pay back the money. |
| U. of Nebraska at Lincoln under fire for including race in campus crime alert | |
| After a University of Nebraska at Lincoln student was sexually assaulted in her dormitory last month, some on the campus have condemned the email bulletin that warned about her assailants because police noted that the two suspects were black. So vehement was the criticism among students that university officials are now re-evaluating when and how racial identifiers should be included in such warnings. The debate on whether race is relevant in campus crime alerts crops up repeatedly nationwide. Opinions on the matter differ.Some Nebraska students and certain advocates believe that broadcasting a suspect's race -- which may seem innocuous and quite typical for an alert -- instead breeds fear because the notices can be vague and reinforce harmful stereotypes that black people commit crimes frequently. Campus police officers, however, have said that federal law forces them to publicize information they have on violent crimes in a timely way, especially if suspects have not been detained and may pose a threat. |
| Michigan State trustee: John Engler's 'reign of terror' over | |
| Members of the Michigan State University Board of Trustees will debate John Engler's future at the school in a special open meeting at 8 a.m. Thursday. The meeting's agenda was officially posted around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. "John Engler's reign of terror is over," said board member Brian Mosallam, who has been pushing for Engler's departure for nearly a year. "Michigan State University will be returned to its people." It's a meeting that has been brewing almost since the day Engler took over as interim president at his alma mater, stepping in for Lou Anna Simon. Simon resigned under heavy criticism and is now facing criminal charges --- all tied to her response to the Larry Nassar scandal. Like Simon, much of Engler's tenure has been taken up with fallout from the Nassar scandal and heavy criticism from survivors of Nassar's sexual abuse. Engler survived a motion to fire him this summer, but the criticism hasn't abated. |
SPORTS
| Bulldogs renew budding rivalry with South Carolina | |
| It wasn't too long ago when a women's basketball game between Mississippi State and South Carolina wouldn't exactly move the ratings needle. But lately when the Bulldogs and Gamecocks have met, a championship has usually been up for grabs. The two teams have played in three consecutive SEC Tournament championships and even battled one another in the 2017 national championship game. "We've certainly had some knock down, drag outs the last few years," said MSU coach Vic Schaefer. Tonight a national television audience and a capacity crowd at Humphrey Coliseum will watch No. 7 MSU and No. 15 South Carolina renew their still budding rivalry at 6 on ESPN. "Our competition with each other in women's basketball, I think we respect each other and know we're going to get a heck of a game," Schaefer said. "You have to be ready to play and I think both fan bases appreciate each other. We've both built programs." |
| Bulldogs, Gamecocks play for first place in the league | |
 | Social media has started a trend in which users take a picture from 10 years prior and set it side-by-side with the latest picture to see just how much has changed during that time. For Mississippi State and South Carolina women's basketball, that picture might include an awkward teenager in the early stages of adolescence now blossomed into someone completely unrecognizable. That's where the Bulldogs and Gamecocks under their current regime are at the moment as Vic Schaefer and Dawn Staley have built their programs from the ground up to become two of the premiere women's basketball destinations in America these days. The two teams will meet once again Thursday night in Starkville with the 6 p.m. set for an ESPN national broadcast. The stage is set for the renewal of a rivalry that has spelled out each of the last five SEC champions and four combined Final Fours in the last five years. This year, the game could go a long way once again in determining who takes home the SEC trophy. |
| South Carolina vs Mississippi State: One of women's basketball's best rivalries | |
 | Rivalry. That's a word that shouldn't be tossed around lightly in collegiate sports. Mississippi State has a true rival on the football field, basketball court, baseball field and anywhere else it faces Ole Miss. When the Rebels come to Humphrey Coliseum to play women's basketball, though, they don't move the needle quite the way the South Carolina Gamecocks do. When talking rivalries in NCAA women's ball, Mississippi State versus South Carolina has become one of the best. When No. 20 South Carolina (12-4, 4-0 SEC) comes to Starkville to face No. 6 Mississippi State (16-1, 4-0 SEC) on Thursday night at 6 p.m., an ESPN national broadcast crew will be there too. The winner takes sole possession of first place in the SEC standings. |
| Tale of the tape: How do Mississippi State and South Carolina match up? | |
 | A little over a month ago, the thought of South Carolina playing a competitive game, much less beating Mississippi State seemed like wishful thinking for Gamecock fans. At 4-4, USC had been blown out twice by top-10 teams at home and struggled against lesser ones. MSU, meanwhile, was 8-0 and had soundly thrashed then-No. 10 Texas on the road. But when Dawn Staley's team travels to Starkville on Thursday for a showdown on ESPN, it will enter with plenty of momentum, feeling confident about its chances. Carolina has won eight games in a row, including some tough road victories. MSU, meanwhile, has fallen on the road to No. 5 Oregon and gotten upset scares from Marquette and Georgia. So how do the Gamecocks and Bulldogs match up now? |
| Former Mississippi State basketball standout shares story of her journey | |
| More than 250 people filled First United Methodist Church's gym Jan. 13 to hear former Mississippi State University women's basketball guard Blair Schaefer share her story of finding value in your journey for a fundraiser for the Fidelia Club's scholarship programs. Schaefer and her twin brother, Logan, are children of parents who met while coaching against each other. Their father, Vic, coaches MSU's women's basketball team. She set the overall perspective of her life story in her opening sentence. "My foundation is my faith," said Schaefer, who is now a reporter for WCBI. Schaefer and her family were living in eastern Texas while she and her brother were students in middle school. She recalled the turning point in life that happened when she was an eighth-grader playing in a basketball tournament in Ohio. The telephone rang in the hotel room she and her father were in, which delivered the shattering news that Logan suffered a traumatic brain injury due to a wakeboarding accident. |
| Athletes face social media shame | |
 | "I think it's literally one of the biggest issues that an athlete deals with on a day-to-day basis," said former MSU tennis player Caroline Kelly. That being, social media shaming. "I think bullying on social media is a huge thing that people see," said Kelly. "You can get out at the end of your game and you have tweets at you you know that are very negative." And if you're wondering if these tweets really affect young athletes, they do. "It's embarrassing to think I'm not focusing on what I'm supposed to be doing," said Kelly. "What I've trained my whole life to do, I'm focusing on what someone who I don't know, who's hiding behind a screen is telling me what I should be doing." |
| Fresh eyes: USM interim AD Jeff Mitchell wants to examine entire athletic department | |
| Sometimes getting a fresh pair of eyes on something can prove to be the difference. Newly-named interim Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell never imagined the chair he'd be sitting in six months ago. He just returned to Mississippi in the fall to take the Deputy Athletics Director post at Southern Miss after 12 years in California. Mitchell, a native of Magnolia, is a Mississippi man. He went to Millsaps for undergraduate and graduate school, then received his Juris Doctor degree from Ole Miss' law school before moving to a state that's the opposite of his home state. His college sweetheart and wife, April Mitchell, was already working in California, so he made the move and joined Santa Clara's staff, originally as a volunteer. Now, he's back in Mississippi and it's been a whirlwind ever since. "I was elated (to come back to Mississippi)," Mitchell said when he received the deputy position from then-Southern Miss Director of Athletics Jon Gilbert. |
| 'Roll Tide': A successful CFB season for Mississippi sports betting | |
| This year's national championship game between Clemson and Alabama was winding down on the dozens of TVs scattered throughout the new hybrid sportsbook/bar at Beau Rivage, a high-end casino resort on the Gulf Coast. It was late, closing in on 11 p.m., on a Monday night. The crowd had thinned, but it was still busy and noisy. A few VIPs, wearing slick suits with open collars, were sitting in their leather lounge chairs in the reserved area, sunken in the middle of the bar in front of the biggest TVs. There were bars at each corner, with typical restaurant seating, including booths throughout most of the venue. At this point, the resilient cheers from Alabama fans that lasted into the fourth quarter were mostly gone, replaced by emboldened Clemson supporters that wouldn't dare leave. This was their time. This was the first college football season with legal bookmakers operating deep in SEC country, and it was ending with Alabama suffering its worst loss of the Nick Saban era. |
| Sun interview: Scott Stricklin | |
 | Scott Stricklin has been the Florida athletic director for 27 months, so his feet are plenty wet in his job. In addition to pushing for better facilities and making a big coaching change in football, Stricklin last season was a member of the College Football Playoff committee. Gainesville Sun sports columnist Pat Dooley sat down with Stricklin for a conversation about ticket sales, scheduling and all things Gator. |
| AD Phillip Fulmer got banned from Tennessee football practice for coaching linemen | |
| Phillip Fulmer couldn't help himself.Tennessee's athletics director saw a couple of offensive linemen who he thought needed coaching during a drill last fall. So Fulmer, the former Vols coach, jumped in and coached them up. That's an NCAA violation. Fulmer's mistake was among eight NCAA violations that Tennessee reported during the last six months of 2018. UT released a report detailing the violations to USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee in response to a public records request. Fulmer's infraction was among three violations by the football program during the six-month period. The women's basketball program also had three violations, and men's basketball and softball each had one. All the violations were rated Level III infractions, which are minor and resulted in mild discipline. For the year, Tennessee self-reported 14 violations, all of which were Level III. |
| The N.F.L.'s Obesity Scourge | |
 | An insidious scourge that has nothing to do with head trauma is ravaging retired N.F.L. players. In the past few decades, the N.F.L.'s emphasis on the passing game and quarterback protection has led teams to stock their offensive and defensive lines with ever-larger men, many of them weighing well over 300 pounds. But their great girth, which coaches encouraged and which helped turn some players into multimillion-dollar commodities, leaves many of them prone to obesity problems. In retirement, these huge men are often unable to lose the weight they needed to do their jobs. Without the structure of a team and the guidance of coaches for the first time in decades, many of them lose the motivation to stay in shape, or cannot even try, as damage to their feet, knees, backs and shoulders limits their ability to exercise. This is a big reason that former linemen, compared with other football players and the general population, have higher rates of hypertension, obesity and sleep apnea, which can lead to chronic fatigue, poor diet and even death. |
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