Korey Stringer
Encyclopedia
Korey Damont Stringer was an American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player who died from complications brought on by heat stroke
Hyperthermia
Hyperthermia is an elevated body temperature due to failed thermoregulation. Hyperthermia occurs when the body produces or absorbs more heat than it can dissipate...

, during training camp in Mankato, Minnesota
Mankato, Minnesota
Mankato is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 39,309 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth largest city in Minnesota outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The county seat of Blue Earth County, it is located...

 while in training camp with the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...

 of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

.

College career

Stringer was born in Warren, Ohio
Warren, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 46,832 people, 19,288 households and 12,035 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,912.4 people per square mile . There were 21,279 housing units at an average density of 1,322.9 per square mile...

 and attended Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...

 where he was teammates on the offensive line with Orlando Pace
Orlando Pace
Orlando Lamar Pace is an American football offensive tackle who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams first overall in the 1997 NFL Draft. He played college football at Ohio State. Pace has started all 16 games eight times and blocked for three straight NFL MVPs...

 and blocking for running backs Eddie George
Eddie George
Edward Nathan "Eddie" George, Jr. is a former American football running back in the National Football League. He played for the Tennessee Titans both in Tennessee and in Houston when the franchise was known as the Houston Oilers, and spent his final season with the Dallas Cowboys...

 and Robert Smith.

Professional career

The Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...

 drafted him in the first round of the 1995 NFL Draft
1995 NFL Draft
The 1995 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1995 at the Paramount Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City...

. He was a standout on the offensive line, earning Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...

 honors in what turned out to be his final season. The Vikings retired his jersey number 77 during the 2001 NFL season
2001 NFL season
The 2001 NFL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Football League.Following a pattern set in 1999, the first week of the season was permanently moved to the weekend following Labor Day...

.

Stringer's widow filed a wrongful death lawsuit
Wrongful death claim
Wrongful death is a claim in common law jurisdictions against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives, as enumerated by statute...

 against the team and doctors. Parts of her lawsuit were later thrown out; her suit against the NFL was settled in January 2009. The only disclosed term of the settlement is that the NFL will support efforts to create a heat illness
Heat illness
Heat illness or heat-related illness is a spectrum of disorders due to environmental heat exposure. It includes minor conditions such as heat cramps, heat syncope, and heat exhaustion as well as the more severe condition known as heat stroke....

 prevention program. His widow also brought a lawsuit against Riddell Inc.
Riddell
Riddell is an American company specializing in sports equipment for American football, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, soccer, softball, track and field, tennis, volleyball, National Football League, NCAA Football and wrestling. It is headquartered in Des Plaines, Illinois.The company was started...

, the manufacturer of Stringer's pads and helmet. In July 2009, a federal judge determined that Riddell had a duty to inform Stringer that their equipment could contribute to heat injuries. A district court judge then ordered a jury trial regarding the matter.

Stringer's death brought about major changes regarding heat stroke prevention throughout the NFL. His death also addressed complications of pressuring players to "bulk up" to well over 300 lbs. Stringer, who at the time of his death was 6'4" and weighed 335 lbs., was at the lowest weight he had ever been in his pro career. Many teams now train in light color uniforms, water and shade are made readily available, and a team doctor is at practice sessions at all times.

External links

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