During the summer and fall of 2015 I supervised a study with Joseph (Jody) “D,” Dodds, a senior enrolled in the dual degree Biology/Athletic Training program and 4 year member of the Marauder football team. The purpose of our collaboration was to investigate Substance Abuse Patterns among University Football Players. In my role I assisted Jody in conceptualizing the potential research questions and guided his comprehensive literature review. I also advised his public presentations to student-athletes.
Substance use and misuse)in sport can pose serious risks to student-athletes’ health and negatively affect his or her academic and athletic performance. Chemical substances may also compromise the integrity of athletic competition. For this project, I also guided the student in preparing his pilot questionnaire which included self-reported alcohol and marijuana use during an athletic competition season. The study examined rates of substance use by student-athletes before and after competition.
In addition, we worked with the MU Center of Student Involvement at MU to obtain public screening rights to show ESPN Films: 30 for 30 presentation of Run Ricky Run—the story of Ricky Williams, star professional NFL player and Heisman Trophy winner who walked away from football at the height of his career due to allegations of drug-use.
The film and follow-up discussion was part of The First 6: Marauders Making a Difference program series sponsored by the Center for Health Education and Promotion and the Wellness and Sport Sciences Department. See photo below that depicts The First 6 flyer with all program events, and specifically the Run Ricky Run program for student-athletes that took place on 9/18/15. As an incentive, any student-athlete who attended our program and signed the sign-in sheet received 2 hours credit for structured-study.
Earlier, during MU preseason football camp, Jody showed several video segments from the Run Ricky Run to members of the football team followed by personal stories from their head football coach who talked about a former player who was set to play professionally (in the NFL) but was cut from the team because of his alcohol addiction. For the study, Jody described his personal experiences and those of team members who used alcohol and marijuana and it’s negative effects over their careers. Following the video screening team members were divided into small groups and discussed several wellness-related questions facilitated by team captains (as assigned by the head coach).
Discussion Questions:
1. From the clip of Run Ricky Run, do you think Ricky did the right thing leaving the game of football?
2. Do you think marijuana had a significant impact on Ricky’s life? Why?
3. What’s the worst situation you have been involved in when alcohol/marijuana was made available to you?
4. Has alcohol/marijuana ever had an effect on your ability to perform in the classroom, on the practice field, or in competition? If so please explain.
5. What are some ways that you can be proactive in protecting yourself and your teammates from the negative consequences that could come with the consumption of alcohol and marijuana?
Alcohol-related unintentional injury remains a serious consequence among collegiate athletes. According to a recently published article in Journal of Athletic Training, Brenner et. al (2014) report that Certified Athletic Trainers want further education and training on best-practices for preventing substance use and abuse.
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- Jody explaining his project
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- Jody discussing his project
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- Students providing written feedback
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- Video set-up in lecture hall
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- Flyer description for Run Ricky Run
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- JD in control room
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- JW in control room
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- Free pizza and drinks
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- Video on the big screen
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- JD and JW