THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 5, 1995 TAG: 9511050072
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Paul South
DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
``Choo Choo'' Justice.
``Famous Amos'' Lawrence.
Lawrence Taylor.
These names bring mist to the eyes of Tar Heel faithful who flock to the campus of the University of North Carolina every autumn to cheer the blue and white.
These men are legends in the gridiron history of North Carolina football.
But Carl Blyth and Fred Mueller may have done more for football than any on the long list of Tar Heel greats.
Blyth and Mueller never made the All-America team. Neither won the Heisman Trophy. Heck, they never even scored a touchdown in a college game.
They're college professors who make their marks in the classrooms instead of on the fields.
Now there are those who believe that academicians and athletics go together like perfume and pig pens. But every football player, from the Sunday sandlot warrior to the crafty NFL veteran, owes Carl Blyth and Fred Mueller a huge debt of gratitude.
In fact, they may owe them their lives.
Since 1965, the two professors have conducted what's called the Annual Survey of Football Injury Research. Each year, they gather facts on football deaths and injuries through newspaper clippings, other reports and information gleaned from a 150-member network. The NCAA and the Federation of State High School Associations co-sponsor the report.
The real difference this tandem of professors has made is evident from rules that have changed in the wake of their work.
In the not-too-distant past, coaches taught players to use the crown of their heads to tackle. John Heisman, the legendary coach for whom college football's highest individual honor is named, prohibited his players from taking water breaks at practice. That, along with bathing with soap, Heisman thought, made players ``soft.''
But the use of the head as a weapon to block and tackle and the prohibition of water breaks didn't make athletes tougher.
It killed them.
Between 1955 and 1976, 63 high school, college and sandlot players died from heatstroke.
Between 1931 and 1976, 839 players died from injuries, and hundreds of others suffered permanent paralyzing injuries.
In 1968 alone, 36 players died from trauma. Another five players died from heat-related problems.
Thanks to the work of the two Carolina teachers, new rules were adopted in 1976 that prohibited spearing - players'use of their helmets as battering rams. Mandatory water breaks at games and in practice dramatically reduced the number of heat-related problems. Those deaths have decreased from a high of eight nationwide in 1970, to an average of one every two years.
As a result of Blyth's and Mueller's work, in 1990, for the first time, no U.S. deaths were directly attributed to football. The annual average since then has been 2.5 fatalities. It's not perfect. But considering that 1.8 million students play the game, it's not a bad average.
In North Carolina, no football deaths have been reported since 1981, with no permanently crippling injuries since 1989.
For five years, Blyth and Mueller conducted a $450,000 statewide study, one of the most comprehensive ever done on high school football. They surveyed 50 schools and included interviews with injured players.
``The last two years of the study, we did a lot of experimental things such as redoing practice and game fields, and putting different kinds of shoes and cleats on athletes to reduce knee and ankle injuries,'' Mueller said.
The professors also evaluated football helmets, coaches' experience and training methods.
Robert Culton, the football coach at Chapel Hill High School, praised Blyth and Mueller's work.
``I can't emphasize too strongly what a great service those two fellows did,'' Culton said. ``I've seen it first-hand here in North Carolina. I know their influence has been dramatic anywhere kids play football.''
``Choo Choo'' Justice, Amos Lawrence and Lawrence Taylor may have inspired young players to run and block and tackle.
But Carl Blyth and Fred Mueller made it more likely that after a great run, those young men would be able to walk away and live another day.
KEYWORDS: FOOTBALL INJURIES STUDY by CNB