Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 68.djvu/267

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The remaining seven report a longer time averaging about a month, though three say 'am staying out until Christmas.'

Fourth, of the 60 college players reporting, twelve stated that at the time of answering my letter they had not wholly recovered from the injury. When we consider that in some instances the reply was made within a week or two of the time of injury and in no instance more than two months after, this number does not seem excessive. With the exception of the persons noted under fifth, the answers seem to indicate the later stages of convalescence. Some of them read: muscles still weak,' 'leg still in plaster cast but will be out in a few days,' 'still a little lame,' 'three teeth not yet recovered, but dentist doing his best,' 'ankle a little stiff yet' and 'have not fully recovered but was able to play the Nebraska, Wisconsin and Chicago games' (this from a Michigan man).

Fifth, on the part of five players it could not be said with certainty that the injury would not prove permanent. Michigan, Columbia, Harvard, Chicago and Illinois each has one in this class. For these men the particular injury and the reply to the question as to, permanence are as follows:

 (1) Ligament of knee ruptured. 'Can't say definitely. Think not.' (2) Spine wrenched. 'Physicians say I shall ultimately recover.' (3) Blow on head. 'My orders from the doctors are: If you remain quiet and take good care of yourself you will entirely recover.' (4) Partial detachment of retina. 'It is not unlikely that a part of this area will remain permanently detached from choroid.' (Signed by physician). (5) Knee injured, floating cartilage. 'Very serious and, unless an operation could eliminate it, the danger of a very unreliable knee.'

This completes the record of the college men, except for the fact that all but five assert that they were in good training. This, however, means nothing in itself, since we have no means of knowing what proportion of the whole number of men playing football were unseasoned.

With the high school players, the facts seem to coincide more nearly with the printed reports. Of these, twenty-two in all, but two denied the report in toto, although eight others stated that no time was lost from classes. The rest on the whole lost a considerably larger average