Writing Feature Articles - Step 1 - Lesson 1 | Page 63

Writing Feature Articles - Lesson
Writing Feature Articles - Handout . a

Experienced

Name: ________________________________________ Date: ___________________

. a: Feature Articles Packet

(page

of

)

“Special report: The dangers...” continued
Matt Peterson, Woodinville
The ?rst concussion came on a run up the
middle during Matt Peterson’s freshman year at
Woodinville High School. At inside linebacker,
Peterson lived for this kind of play, when he
could meet a runner head-on.
“I was proud of myself,” Peterson said.
hit someone so hard I gave myself a
concussion.”

“I

During the baseball season, he suffered another
one playing catcher, on a collision at the plate.
He suffered a third one his sophomore year.
A fourth one — on a minor hit in practice —
ended his junior football season after six weeks.
Staying out of football frustrated him, but not as
much as knowing he wasn’t as sharp as usual.
Studying had never been so dif?cult.
“I just remember it was the worst two weeks
of my life following the fourth concussion,”
Peterson said.

MARK HARRISON / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Woodinville senior Matt Peterson quit playing football after his fourth concussion and now serves as an assistant coach. “This is your life you’re dealing
with,” he says.

Once Peterson received his ?rst concussion, he was not only more likely to receive another one; subsequent
concussions would require a smaller impact and would cause more severe symptoms.
Whereas studies of NFL players have found that severe post-concussive symptoms extend late into life,
information on the long-term effects of concussions for high-school athletes is not de?nitive.
Peterson, a senior, had been told he had a 90 to 95 percent chance of suffering another concussion if he played
this season. He had heard enough. He wants to be an Air Force pilot, and he wants to have all his faculties when
he gets there.
So he quit playing. But the inside linebacker in him couldn’t stay away from the game altogether. Instead, he joined
the coaching staff as an assistant.
His classmates even have to call him “coach.”
“I realized, you know what? It’s not a good idea,” he says. “This is your life you’re dealing with. This is more than
just a game.”
Tom Wyrwich. (Nov. 4, 2008). Special report: The dangers of adolescents playing football with concussions.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2008347382&zsection_id=2002990526&slug=concussions
04&date=20081104

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