Tait Weatherbee...football injury

TMP senior Tait Weatherbee suffered a severe broken leg Friday night in a h.s football game. It's very possible Tait could be out for the year. This almost makes me sick to my stomach - a Sr. who has seen so much success and would be gunning for a state championship. Sure hope he heels fast and can make it back for the latter part of the year.

There's been several postings on here about whether wrestlers and bball players who really excel should risk injury and play football. I've always thought an athlete who is good at both should play both. Now I don't know.

Mike,

Sad news indeed to hear. I know when I'm watching Chapman play I cringe all the time. Will Irvine and Jon Arveson are two of our big playmakers and I know one bad blow and they would be done on the year.

Watching the news on Friday nights when they do the scoreboard show I hear of all sorts of different wrestlers doing well, I know Jesse Strawn had an INT for a TD a week ago. I don't know though. I guess if you want to wrestle in college you should focus more on that for you senior year, but I can't knock anybody for wanting to play football either. I'm sure injuries happen in other fall sports but just not as severe in a lot of cases.

Sad news to hear, a 2 time runner-up and a 4th and he may not get a chance to ever win one. I guess that's a risk you take playing football. He knew the risks and took them but unfortunately for him he lost the gamble. I hope this is the only truely severe injury to wrestler this year, but the season's till young.

Alex

I agree with Aaron. You can never knock a kid for putting out effort.
It's always bothered me that kids only go out for one sport in smaller schools. I sometimes wonder what might have happened if some of the kids that are currently on the sidelines came out for a sport and contributed.
You are only in high school once and it goes by way too fast not to make the most of it.
Tait is a very talented athlete and it is never a good thing when someone gets injured, but I'm sure that he was doing what he wanted and loved to do.

I was one of those that played football and wrestled my freshman year but there are politics in small town America that keep the big kids off of football teams and away from sports in general. For 3 years I was a mascot and didn't have to play the name game and was a 4 year varsity letterman.

A Coach in a small town playing the name game? I would never suspect that.... Who I am kidding it's an all too common problem. That's why wrestling is #1, there's no way to shelter a "named" kid, it's one on one the better will always prevail.

Alex

I agree with you that there is a lot of politics in high school sports. I don't agree with it, but it is there.
I also believe that some of those issues can be worked through. I have moved my kids three times since they have been in school with job related moves. They have always bounced back, made new friends and fit into the "system" that they were in at the time. I give them credit for that. I also realize that isn't always how things work out for everyone in those kinds of situations. Perhaps we were lucky.

Weatherbee is a good westler on a pretty poor football team. He is also a small kid. He may be the exception to my rule.....I would say that every wrestler should play 3 sports in high school. Even if it's golf in the spring, it is my belief that kids do better when they are active.

Weatherbee may be small in size but he hardly has any fat on him and ive tried to tackle him before in a JV game and it wasnt pretty. I really dont consider him small.

I would say that if they aren't involved year round in something semi active to do weights when they aren't doing anything else.

Everybody has to make thier own decision about playing more than one sport. I will play as many as I can because I don't want a "What if" that I could control. An injury in a sport is somethin that you can't control, but giving up or not going out at all is something you can.

Good response. Everyone that knows Tait realizes he is not a quitter. Let's hope him the best in recovery and pray he comes back with a vengeance. Our prayers are with him and his family. Good luck Tait!!

If my son only played one sport he wouldn't be doing wrestling. Don't get me wrong, he loves to wrestle but loves playing baseball more. He knows that playing football he could get injured. He knows going out for wrestling, he could get injured. But he also knows that the skills and techniques he learns in football and wrestling carry over into baseball. I fell really bad for Tait and hate to see someone end their sports season with an injury. However, not all broken bones accure on a football field (or mat or baseball field ect.) Power 54 said it best.

I had meetings all day today in Hays. Several of the people at work told me that Tait had to go back in for another surgery because they had problems with the pin they put in???
Is anyone closer to the situation that would have an update?
If so let please let Tait know that our prayers are with him.

mike holliday, you wanted to say HEALS, not heels. I got your back yo. And Tait smells like salty old tuna fish.

Tait was taken from the game to the Manhattan Hospital to undergo surgery. They started the surgery at 12:30 and finished at 5:00. He had so much swelling they had to make two incisions from the knee to the ankle on each side of the leg to relieve it. They made another incision down the front where they inserted a rod and three pins. The swelling was so bad they couldn't stitch the incision shut. They put a half cast on the back of the leg and wrapped the front. Monday he went back to surgery, the doctor reset the rod and pins and stitched most of the incision shut. Yesterday they finished stitching the incision shut. They were afraid he would have to have skin and bone grafts, but looks like he's avoided that. They were hoping he would be released today so he could watch tonights game!

That's disgusting.

Tait was at the TMP homecoming parade and obviously the game. His leg is pretty wrapped up.

Why did he have to go all the way to Manhattan when TMP is in Hays?

Aaron...assuming he went to Manhattan because they played football in Abilene when he broke his leg.

My guess is that in Manhattan they have probably the finest set of orthopedic guys around. Doc. Hinkin was the Air Force Academies "Chief of Orthopedics" until he retired a few years back. He is currently KSU's main Doctor for their athletes. He has his stuff together, Fixed our kids a couple a times.

You guys talk like wrestling is the most important sport out there. But its not no single sport should over take another sport. Right now its football season, and when it is wrestling season it will b wrestling season. So don't try saying that wrestlers shouldn't play football.

and don't you say that peanut butter and jelly is any less appealing than spaghetti and apple sauce covered in maple syrup. and P.S. wrestling IS the most important sport out there and I've got a soldering iron for your face if you say any different

bring it on football is the most important now and when its wrestling thats the most important and track is never important lol

I thought it was basketball that was never important. Seriously, I love football, played through college, that being said, the risk of injury is something you take on when you play the sport. You do this in every sport, but especially football.

As a Wrestling Coach for over 30 years and also coaching Football for most of that time, I have always encouraged wrestlers to participate in Football or at least another sport each season. If we specialize in our sport we will have a hard time winning the good football player over to even try wrestling. I recruited many wrestlers from the Freshman Football teams over the years. Without other wrestlers playing the sport and showing the value of the crossover from football to wrestling, most would just lift in the off season.

As far as injury, that is always a risk. You have it on the Football field, mat, track or even riding around goofing off. I think your chances are even greater outside due to the fact that you are not involved in an orgainized activity with other kids who have good grades and a common goal.

There is no substitute for competition, whether it is Wrestling, Football, Golf, Badminton or even Basketball, learning to compete is always a positive.

jesse barber hurt his elbow in a football game last night and has to have surgey to repair it. he is out probaly till about january. how many other wrestlers besides these 2 have been hurt playing football this season

here's a thought..how football players were hurt wrestling last year?

Will Irvine from Chapman. I don't think that is the point though. If you were hurt, you have a long time between wrestling season and football season to heal up. The question should be how many wrestlers get hurt and it affect the next spring sport like baseball, track or something else.

Maybe if we all sat in our living rooms playing video games, the only problems that we would have would be carpal tunnel syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

...only if you eat cheetos and twinkes

I talked to Tait tonight after the game against TMP and he said that he is out for 4-6 months but he will probably get to start wrestling in January

What is his weight going to be this year? Going 4A didn't help matters any...

Going to 4A did hurt matters any either. 3A is stacked and so is 4A so it really does not make a big difference

I agree. Losing to Tyler Baker, Levi Younkin, Jason Pyle and Simon Orozco is tough. If Tait can wrestle he'll be just fine in 4A

i'm not Tait but in my opinion he knew what he was doing he was COMPETEING so why not let this whole thing just leave? i know he isn't a person who is gonna sit around and complain oh i might have ruined my wrestling so why can't we do that same