Report: No blame in football accident

Deirdre Newman

COSTA MESA -- A long-awaited report investigating the death of a

popular Costa Mesa High School football player clears the school staff of

any fault.

Colby died after a game against Ocean View High School on Sept. 28. An

autopsy found that his death was caused from brain swelling due to

repeated blunt-force trauma to the head.

Newport-Mesa Unified School District Supt. Robert Barbot said the

district will review the report, released Friday, and see if there’s any

improvements that can be made in district policy to prevent another

fatality in the future.

“We’re going to go to our athletic people and see if there is any fine

tuning that we should be doing,” Barbot said. “[Matt] was one of our

students that we cherish, and we want to make sure he’s respected in the

process.”

The investigation, prepared by Alvarez and Associates, found that

Coach David Perkins, his coaching staff, trainer Steve Moreno, team

physician Dr. Peter Kim, and the administration and faculty at the school

and the district were not to blame for Colby’s death. Perkins was not

available for comment.

What’s not in the report is any direct information from the Colby

family physician, Dr. Nazli Ahmed. That information was not made

available to investigators by Matt Colby’s mother, Kelli Colby, who also

denied a request to talk to investigators.

The investigation found that Colby did not mention any concussion

symptoms until a week after they happened. Sept. 21 -- after a game

against Centennial High School -- was the first time Colby mentioned to

his trainer, Steve Moreno, that he had a headache, nausea and pressure

behind the eyes and in the sinus cavity after a Sept. 15 game against

Westminster High School.

Moreno was concerned about Colby’s symptoms and the length of time

that had elapsed before they were reported, so he sent a note home to

Colby’s mother, the report states.

Kelli Colby set up a doctor’s appointment with Ahmed for the following

Tuesday.

Ahmed was out of town and unavailable for comment, but the report

states that the release she gave to Colby said: “Matt can practice this

week, but no head hitting. Can play on Friday, but not full game.”

The Costa Mesa athletic staff followed those directions, according to

the report. Although Colby was not involved in contact drills, he was

training to play for a new defensive lineup in which he would be an

outside linebacker rather than his regular position as an inside

linebacker.

For running plays, this position involves stepping down and giving the

runner a small frame of attack, according to the report: “This position

would have been from the shoulder pad to the knee level, in a hitting

position to take on blockers, with his shoulder pad and legs and not his

helmet.”

But videotapes from the Sept. 28 game show that Colby dove headfirst

into an opposing player several ties and seemed slow to get up.

Before the Ocean View game Sept. 28, Perkins still had concerns about

Colby playing, even though the player claimed he was not experiencing any

more symptoms, also according to the report.

“Therefore, Coach Perkins asked his son AJ and several other close

friends of Matt how Matt was ‘really’ feeling. AJ and Matt’s other

friends all told Coach Perkins that Matt was fine and feels good,” the

report states.

The report details a series of events from the Sept. 28 game:

Colby also played on the kickoff team and was involved in a tackle on

the game’s first play, but not a “spectacular collision.”

Colby then played in some of the defensive plays but again was not

involved in “any unusual tackles.”

During a subsequent Costa Mesa kickoff, Colby had another contact with

an opponent blocker.

On Ocean View’s second offensive play after that, Colby contained the

player while another player tried to block him. He managed to avoid the

tackle.

But soon after that play, Colby walked off the field. Moreno

approached him and noticed his hands were convulsing. The trainer took

Colby’s helmet off and had him sit on the training table on the

sidelines.

As Colby was trying to explain his symptoms to Moreno, his level of

consciousness deteriorated to unconsciousness and the convulsions

worsened.

Moreno called 911 after Colby lost consciousness, and Ocean View’s

doctor also rushed to the sidelines. Because there was no emergency

medical equipment on the field, they could only wait until the paramedic

unit arrived.

Several minutes after the 911 call, the paramedics arrived at the

field. As Colby was being taken to UCI Medical Center, his heartbeat and

breathing stopped. An emergency medical technician in the ambulance

revived him as it arrived at the trauma center, but a CT scan test found

that he was brain dead.

The Colby family decided to take him off life support systems Saturday

morning.

Barbot said it would probably take a few weeks for his staff to look

over the report but stressed he was open to making changes to protect the

safety of his students.

“We’re going to do this in the spirit of trying to be better, dealing

with students and their lives and, of course, if there’s anything we can

do better, we will,” Barbot said.

* Deirdre Newman covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at o7 deirdre.newman@latimes.comf7 .