Several Oregon football players hospitalized after strength and conditioning workouts

It’s a new era at the Oregon football program, and unfortunately, that new era hit its first road bump last week.

According to a report from The Oregonian, at least three UO football players were hospitalized after a grueling series of strength and conditioning exercises last week, around the time Irele Oderinde was brought over from South Florida to be the team’s new strength and conditioning coach.

Offensive linemen Doug Brenner and Sam Poutasi and tight end Cam McCormick are at Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend and as of Monday were listed in fair condition.

Poutasi was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, which is where muscle contents leak into the blood stream. Poutasi had said he had sore arms after the workout.

Players were doing a series of continuous push-ups and up-downs for one hour, similar to basic military training. There were conflicting reports of players passing out, a report the school has disputed.

Some players, including Junior cornerback Ugochukwu Amadi, said that the workout isn't what the media was portraying it to be.

Willie Taggart visited with the hospitalized players before leaving the state for a recruiting trip.