Drive to Compete Endangers Athletes

It is heartbreaking to read in your article (“Drive to Excel Brings Death to the Gridiron,” Aug. 27) of Rashidi Wheeler’s death on the football field [at Northwestern University]. The drive to compete and win is so strong, or so we teach our kids, that all thoughts of personal protection and safety seem to come second to the almighty goal.

As an educator of 43 years, teaching from preschool through college, I know that we can do better in alerting our young children to caring enough for themselves so that they will refuse to let anyone, any system or any amount of fame and glory allow them to forget that their bodies and minds belong to them alone. There is nothing sissy about keeping one’s self alive, and parents and teachers can spread this message to our young people.

Jane Carney Schulze

San Diego

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I’d like to commend Alan Abrahamson on his Column One story about the death of Wheeler. As a Northwestern student and football fan, I’ve been following closely the news surrounding this tragedy. Abrahamson provided a completely balanced report, without the all-too-often finger-pointing that has been the content of many stories in the past weeks. For the first time, a reporter bothered to give us a view of Wheeler as a person, instead of just a football player.

This was a tragedy. In tragedy, people are devastated. It often takes the level head of a journalist to put things in a proper perspective, one that honors the memory of the dead while examining the causes of their untimely death. Abrahamson did both.

Tim Orland

Sherman Oaks