1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
Put me in, Doc By Kevin B. O'Reilly
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
Online — Oct. 18, 2010 Print — Oct. 25, 2010
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
As it gained prominence during the last year, the issue of sports concussions took on scientific, commercial and political dimensions with the debate centering on the proper limits of hard hits that could potentially disable athletes — from the youth level to the National Football League. As a reporter covering medical ethics for our physician readership, I decided to tackle the topic by exploring the dilemma that faces team doctors who are under pressure on all sides to let factors other than their medical judgment carry the day when deciding if athletes are healthy enough to play. In reporting the story, I discovered that the team physician for then No. 4-ranked Texas Christian University Horned Frogs came under heavy pressure from head coach Gary Patterson after he ruled a star player should be removed from a game due to a concussion. The doctor stood by his medical decision, but had to withstand Patterson's screaming at him "insanely" on the sidelines.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
I consulted medical studies on the long-term effects on the brain of sports-related head trauma, the frequency of concussions in different youth sports, as well as guidelines for health care professionals on how to handle potential concussions from the sidelines.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
I interviewed team physicians at every level as well as expert neurologists and medical sociologists to understand the dimensions of the story.
6. Results (if any).
My reporting on Coach Patterson's actions was a scoop that made national sports and the verbal berating was captured on camera and replayed countlessly on TV in the week after the article ran. I appeared on ESPN's "Outside the Lines," hosted by Bob Ley, to discuss the ethical dilemma facing team physicians.
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
Coach Patterson complained that we had not contacted him, but I tried to reach him through the TCU sports information department and they never responded to my inquiries.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Talk to the people who are in the trenches as the subjects of your story. You never know what kinds of stories they may have to tell that illustrate the topic you are exploring.