This H.S. Football Team Took A Knee And Intentionally Lost Out Of Respect For An Injured Player On The Opposing Team

The Woodlands JV with a great show of sportsmanship. @TWHSFootball @KatyISDAthletic @abc13houston #txhsfb pic.twitter.com/UAXBzPPSoS

— Bob Slovak (@BobSlovak13) September 14, 2016

FTW-  The Katy Tompkins High School JV football team had quite a scare when one of their players was hurt so badly that Life Flight had to be called in to take him off the field. The injury occurred on the second-to-last play of the game against Woodlands High School; Tompkins was up 29-28, and Woodlands was poised to score and secure their first win of the season.

Instead of going through with the final play, however, the Woodlands players took a knee and intentionally lost.

“I went over to the coaches and said our kids don’t really feel like finishing the game,” Tony Tademy, Katy Tompkins varsity coach, told the local ABC affiliate. “He said, coach, can I take a knee, and I said coach, that would be great. They came out and took a knee, a lot of class.”



Alright, that's it. Time to pull the plug on youth football. Parents are already extremely skeptical of the potential ramifications of playing so it's probably for the best anyway. If teams and coaches are going to be so distraught by a serious injury that they can't finish one game deciding play then maybe they shouldn't be engaging in a sport that lends itself to serious injury. The decision - in and of itself - is classy, but I can't help but think a better way to honor a fallen member of the opposition would be to play out the remaining seconds of the game he gave up his body to win. It was certainly an act of sportsmanship, but if the high school kids that busted their ass for 59 minutes and 59 seconds weren't at least a little bothered by it then winning isn't nearly as valued as it used to be. I get that it's just a game - and a JV game at that - but if the results aren't more important than making an honorary gesture to someone that was well on his way to being tended to in a hospital then maybe these kids shouldn't be risking their short term and long term health for it. I suppose it could just be my competitive spirit, but - no matter what side I was on - I would've wanted to see that game end with a team out-executing the other one final time. Seeing it end unceremoniously because a bunch of kids and coaches couldn't handle watching one of the dangers they incur by participating play out in front of them just doesn't feel right. That kid put his general well being on the line for a win and now neither team feels like they won anything other than some fictitious moral struggle.