Iowa Football Players Hospitalized Following Workouts

Thirteen University of Iowa football players are hospitalized with a muscle disorder following off-season workouts, a university official confirmed Wednesday. Tom Moore, a university spokesman, told ESPN that the athletes have rhabdomyolysis, “stress-induced muscle syndrome that can damage cells and cause kidney failure in severe cases.” Though the cause of the disorder has yet to be determined, a university physician noted that “the common denominator is they had all participated in strenuous exercise, which commonly brings on the disorder in otherwise healthy young people.” Fred Mims, associate athletics director, explained: "We have an excellent medical staff and training staff who will do due diligence to look at what did transpire and make sure we can avoid this in the future. I'm quite sure they'll have safeguards in place to make sure people aren't harmed."