Ou Linebacker Austin Box Died

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Rumored to be of an overdose of Oxycodone. News reports out of Oklahoma say he just graduated last Saturday; was going to be a fifth year senior for the Sooners.

Sad stuff when kids that young die. More sad when drugs are involved.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

911 call already released by the Tulsa World; http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/OU/article.aspx?subjectid=92&articleid=20110519_92_0_Univer612349

Popped onto Soonerfans.com. Kid in the 911 is the son of Box's high school coach.

Tragic.

Edited May 19, 2011 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[KRAM1]

Tragic indeed. My heart breaks for his family and friends as my prayers go out for them. One just wonders how this can happen to a kid who has so much in front of him and, from all reports, love what he was doing.

RIP young man.

[Green P1]

Tragic indeed. My heart breaks for his family and friends as my prayers go out for them. One just wonders how this can happen to a kid who has so much in front of him and, from all reports, loved what he was doing.

RIP young man.

Oxycodone?

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Oxycodone?

Read through various articles, gleaned that he'd had knees surgery about three years ago and back surgery before the 2010 season. Missed half of the 2010 season, but played in the second half in spite of the surgery. Had thought about quitting since he was earning his degree. Was talked into staying for a fifth season by his position coach.

Sad. Football really is a tough game. Was Oxycodone the thing Favre was hooked on? There's a lot of pain and pushing to "play through pain" in the game. Apparently, this kid was a gamer and probably got hooked on the stuff.

I took a lot of heat for a couple of year by saying Todd Dodge probably was risking Riley's long term health by having him play QB at this level. The kid has suffered many injuries since his senior year of high school. Riley's body is young enough to mask the damage now; but, when he's in his late-30s and 40s....

I also look at guys like Earl Campbell who basically can't walk anymore. How much pain is worth the glory?

Coaches have always been under intense pressure to win. Balancing that on the long term lives of their players, whether high school, college, or pro, is a difficult thing to measure.

There are thousands of kids who have probably had similar injuries to the ones the kid from OU had. The problem is, everybody's physiology is different. I had a great aunt who smoked everyday of her life until she died at 94. And, she died of old age, not cancer. But, I've seen friends and family who smoked and died of lung cancer in their 40s and 50s.

I feel bad for this kids and his family. If he was out partying and taking drugs, it'd be one thing. But, it appears from all reports that he was just in a lot of pain and went too far to try to ease it. Sad.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Oxycodone?

Oxycodone: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000589/

Examples of prescription products that contain acetaminophen include hydrocodone with acetaminophen (Vicodin, Lortab), and oxycodone with acetaminophen (Tylox, Percocet).

Oxycodone 60-mg tablets and oxycodone 160-mg tablets (not available in the United States) should only be used to treat people who are tolerant (used to the effects of a medication) to narcotic pain medication. These tablet strengths may cause serious breathing problems or death in people who are not tolerant to narcotics.

Swallow oxycodone extended-release tablets whole; do not chew, break, divide, crush, or dissolve them. If you swallow broken, chewed, or crushed extended-release tablets, you will receive the entire dose of oxycodone at once, instead of slowly over 12 hours. This may cause serious problems, including overdose and death.