The \u201cOklahoma drill\u201d, as it was dubbed, involved two players wearing protective pads and helmets running full speed at each other with the sole purpose of knocking their opponent over. It was adopted by college football and NFL teams across the US before it was officially banned in 2019 in an effort to reduce concussions.<\/p>\n
American-based charity the Concussion Legacy Foundation\u2019s CEO, Dr Chris Nowinski, told the Herald it was \u201cunfortunate\u201d that run it straight had infiltrated the US market.<\/p>\n
When the Herald visited the second Runit League Auckland trial night in May, three of eight competitors were forced to retire with injures \u2013 two of whom showed signs of a concussion. Photo \/ Mike Scott<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m concerned that the people who would sign up for this don\u2019t understand what traumatic brain injuries or chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) can do to their lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the kind of idea that could only take root because we have poor awareness of the long-term effects of repeated hits to the head.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nowinski, a former professional wrestler for the WWE, called the sport a \u201cbackwards step in human development\u201d and \u201cone step away from throwing people into a cage with lions\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more this sport succeeds, the more people will die. I think it\u2019s an easy statistical prediction to make based on the activity in which they are engaging.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said in a social media world, there was a business model because the product sounds and looks interesting to a teenage market.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s in part because a teenager\u2019s frontal lobe is not developed enough to understand the long-term consequences and think about the long-term ramifications of this activity … It\u2019s up to the older, wiser community to not only discourage this, but raise awareness that this is not a healthy activity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ryan Satterthwaite, 19, died after sustaining a head injury in a copycat “run it straight” game in Palmerston North.<\/p>\n
Nowinski said if the trials are successful over the coming weeks, there would likely be movements to discourage or ban run it straight in the US.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess we\u2019ll just wait to see if we\u2019ve taught Americans about concussions and CTE well enough that they reject it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the organisers want to sleep well at night, I at least hope they are warning the participants very clearly that this activity may kill them<\/a>, may cause them a permanent brain injury and if they participate enough times, put them at risk for CTE.\u201d<\/p>\n The Runit League did not wish to comment on its American tour when approached by the Herald.<\/p>\n The six trials, sponsored by controversial online gambling company Stake, tout a US$40,000 ($70,000) prize pool \u2013 with $8800, $1800 and $880 on offer for first, second and third placed competitors respectively at each location.<\/p>\n When the Herald visited the second Runit League Auckland trial night in May, three of eight competitors were forced to retire with injuries \u2013 two of whom showed signs of a concussion. Several others have suffered serious head injuries in their other events.<\/p>\n During the organisation\u2019s Dubai final in June, ugly footage emerged of former NRL veteran and Kiwis representative Kevin Proctor suffering a serious head injury and an apparent seizure after a collision.<\/p>\n A livestream of the event showed Proctor, who was tackling, drive his right shoulder into Australian social media influencer Jordan Simi\u2019s chest as the pair ran full speed at each other.<\/p>\n The former NRL Premiership-winning Melbourne Storm and Gold Coast Titans second-rower was thrown into the air from the force of the collision and fell heavily on his side before his legs started involuntarily twitching in the air and his arms went stiff.<\/p>\n The NFL did not respond to the Herald\u2019s queries on the arrival of Run it Straight in America and the NFL Players Association declined to comment.<\/p>\n Speaking to the BBC in June, one of the Runit League\u2019s seven co-founders, Brandon Taua\u2019a, said there were ongoing talks with potential US investors, including a contact linked to American podcaster and UFC commentator Joe Rogan.<\/p>\n Taua\u2019a told the masthead it would \u201cdefinitely help\u201d the organisation and sport build a presence in America.<\/p>\n The Runit League has amassed over 600,000 followers across its social media pages, with its videos being viewed hundreds of millions of times.<\/p>\n Sports Medicine New Zealand national chairman Dr Stephen Kara earlier told the Herald the biomechanics of the sport\u2019s collisions were \u201ccomparable to severe car crashes\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis activity doesn\u2019t just endanger participants, but makes a mockery of the considerable effort and investment contact sports have made on impact-readiness training, brain injury awareness, reporting and management, all in a bid to ensure the safety and wellbeing of athletes.<\/p>\n \u201c[It] is not a sport. It is jousting without sticks and, whilst that may have been a sport in medieval times, it has no place in today\u2019s sporting arenas.\u201d<\/p>\nFormer NRL veteran and Kiwis representative Kevin Proctor suffered a serious head injury and an apparent seizure after a collision during a “run it straight” final in Dubai in June. Photo \/ Kick<\/p>\n