All Hawkeyes Released from Hospital

Sick Hawks: I don't know that we can call this "breaking news" since some of the "new" information is a day old....but...the University of Iowa now says all 13 sickened football players are out of the hospital. You will also notice a much more sorrowful coach Kirk Ferentz in the statement that just came out:

IOWA CITY, Iowa — All 13 of the University of Iowa football players who had been hospitalized with symptoms of rhabdomyolysis, a muscular syndrome, have been released from University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

"Getting all 13 student-athletes healthy and out of the hospital has been priority number one all along, so I'm very happy that they all are now back home and resuming their lives," said Kirk Ferentz, the UI’s head football coach.

"These young men and their families have been through a difficult and trying time. They are under my supervision and watch, and I am truly sorry for what they've experienced. They trained extremely hard and ended up in the hospital, and there is no indication they did anything wrong. So I'm pleased they are progressing well and I look forward to seeing all of them being back to normal."

The University's athletics department earlier had confirmed the release of five student-athletes Friday. Six more were discharged on Saturday, and the final two were sent home on Sunday.

"Now that these students are out of the hospital and on the road to recovery, we can devote our full attention to determining what happened, and making sure it does not happen again," said Ferentz. "There has been a lot of speculation by those who don't have the facts and it is unfair and inappropriate for anyone to make wild guesses about what happened."

"We obviously are extremely pleased all of our student-athletes have been released from the hospital and can begin the return to their academic, athletic, and personal lives," said Gary Barta, the UI’s director of athletics.

"We now can focus exclusively on discovering the root cause of this situation, and I'm anxious to work with President Mason's group to this end. We will review every aspect of the workouts and talk with everyone involved. The staff and coaches who work with these young men are highly respected professionals who are dedicated and care deeply about our student-athletes. I hope those who follow our program will respect this process moving forward and refrain from any further unproductive rush to judgment."