Ryan Craddock described his son, Cohen, as selfless and compassionate. That was part of the inspiration behind the Caps for Cohen initiative started by Ryan and Cohen’s mother, Jennifer. They also saw it as a way of “turning our family’s grief into action” after Cohen, 13, died last month after suffering a brain injury while practicing football.
Martin McNair knows that feeling. He started advocating for safety improvements in football days after his son, Jordan, died from heatstroke suffered while participating in a workout at the University of Maryland in 2018.
“You want to jump in and do something,” McNair said. “The grief drives you and it makes an impact that you don’t even realize until you look up. Like any parent, you love your kids and you would do anything for them.”
The Craddocks’ initiative already has resulted in tangible action. Boone Memorial Health is purchasing and distributing Guardian caps to every middle and high school in three West Virginia counties. Guardian, the manufacturer of the cap, has agreed to provide a discount for every purchase made through Caps for Cohen.
Caps for Cohen has established a GoFundMe Account to handle donations for the caps, which are designed to soften blows to the head. Cohen is one of eight young football players to die while participating in football in the past month.
“I think if Cohen were wearing a Guardian cap, there would have been a different outcome,” Craddock said. “I’m pushing to get players from all levels, from high school down, to wear these caps. At the bare minimum, wear them during practices and making it optional during game.
“I’m working with the (state) Senate to pass legislation. That will take a couple of years, I assume. In the meantime, I’m trying to raise funds and get donations and get as many caps as possible. I’d really like to see this at the national level. I’ve had so many parents reach out to me who had similar type incidents.”
McNair had the same experience after his son died. He started promoting awareness about heat-related illness for athletes at the college level and below. The goal of the Jordan McNair Foundation is to promote awareness and education about heat-related illness at the youth, high school, and collegiate levels. The organization has had success lobbying for legislation
A Maryland law, named the Jordan McNair Act, requires colleges to set up processes that allow athletes to anonymously express concerns about safety to administrators outside of the athletics department. McNair said Maryland’s name image and likeness law, the Jordan McNair Safe and Fair Play Act, is the only NIL legislation in the country that includes player safety requirements.
“The hard part of the work, the real work, is letting people know there is legislation in place to protect kids,” McNair said. “Those people don’t even know they exist. There are laws in place that do protect the kids, but you have to do your due diligence to look for them. ... The more educated we are, the safer kids will be.”
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
McNair said it’s been more difficult to spur change at the federal level. The Jordan McNair Student Athlete Heat Fatality Prevention Act was introduced to the Senate last year. The bill was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in June 2023 but no further action has been taken on it.
“Every time we submit something you are optimistic, but that turns into realism really quick,” McNair said. “It’s about what’s popular right now. The supporters (in Congress) were very communicative. They rolled out the red carpet. Then the work started, and they went into the witness protection program.”
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