August 1, 2001, 25 years ago: Pro Bowl offensive tackle Korey Stringer dies of heat stroke, a day after collapsing at the Minnesota Vikings' training camp, at Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minnesota, 80 miles southwest of downtown Minneapolis. He was 27.
Korey Damont Stringer was born on May 8, 1974 in Warren, Ohio, outside Cleveland. At Ohio State University, he played on an offensive line with future Hall-of-Famer Orlando Pace, blocking for 2 All-American running backs, 1995 Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George and Stringer's future Vikings teammate Robert Smith.
The Vikings selected him in the 1st round of the 1995 NFL Draft. In 6 seasons, out of a possible 96 regular-season games, he played in 93 and started in 91. He was a member of the Vikings team that went 15-1 in 1998, but lost the NFC Championship Game. He was selected for the Pro Bowl after the 2000 season, and signed his appearance check over to a youth football program in Warren.
Minnesota is famous for being cold, but when the Vikings opened their 2001 preseason training camp at Mankato on July 30, it was around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Stringer was unable to complete the first practice session, due to exhaustion, and did not participate in that day's afternoon session, but he vowed to return the next day to complete the morning session, which was conducted in full pads.
Although he vomited 3 times, he did complete the morning practice session on July 31, which lasted 2½ hours. But he walked to an air-conditioned shelter after the session, where he became weak and dizzy. At 11:30 AM, when practice ended, the heat index had reached 99 °F. It peaked later that day at 110 °F, with a high actual temperature of 90 °F. (In other words, it was 90, but it felt like 110.)
Stringer was taken to Immanuel St. Joseph's-Mayo Health System Hospital in Mankato, where his body temperature was 108 °F upon arrival. He was unconscious from the time he was admitted until his death at 1:50 AM on August 1. An autopsy confirmed that Stringer died from organ failure resulting from heat stroke.
(Stringer's death was how I learned that "heat stroke" was two words. I'd previously thought it was one word: "Heatstroke.")
His death brought about major changes regarding heat stroke prevention throughout the NFL. It also addressed complications of pressuring players to "bulk up" to well over 300 pounds. Stringer, at the time of his death was 6 feet 4 inches, and weighed 335 pounds, and that was at the lowest weight he had ever been in his pro career. Many professional football teams now train in light color uniforms, water and shade are made readily available, and a team doctor and an ambulance are at practice sessions at all times.
The Vikings retired his Number 77, and named him to their Ring of Honor. He has been eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame since 2006, but, given that he only played 6 seasons, making just 1 Pro Bowl, it is unlikely he will ever be elected. Had conditions allowed him a full career, it might have been different.
