Athletes v. Cold

Michael Mann, a football and track coach at Lubbock Coronado High School and 2012 graduate of Texas Tech, remembers cold weather affecting him at practice and games when he played in high school

“Physically, when your muscles get cold they’re so pliable and plastic-like,” he said, “that they become very rigid, and so it makes it more difficult for players to move, more susceptible to tears and strained muscles and things like that. Also, it decreases sensitivity in the fingers and toes, so it makes catching the ball a lot more difficult.”

Michael Mann

But Mann noted, that he “didn’t want to be in the sleeves. I didn’t want to seem like I was cold or show any sort of weakness.”

Michael Madrid, a senior exercise and sports sciences major from Magnolia, Texas, and a member of the Texas Tech Rugby Club, said the team practices and plays outside all year and is only allowed to wear jerseys, rugby shorts, socks and cleats. He said they are not allowed to wear gloves to cover their fingers even when the temperatures start to drop.

“I believe we had a few games that were in the rain,” he said, “and it was still low 30 degrees and our smaller people on the team were just quivering the whole time and then of course our bigger guys on the team are just no sweat, just walking around.”

Madrid said stretching and staying hydrated are physically important for his team just like it is for players at the professional level.

He said before games, the rugby team has dinner with the coaches to ensure they will have proper nutrition for the upcoming game. He said the players drink Pedialyte, which increases electrolytes to help with hydration and energy, and having more energy helps the team to stay warm.

“You’re out at practice,” Madrid said, “and there’s not that great spark that you get for competiveness, so you sit there, and you dwell on how cold it is, so it’s just mentally in your head. You lose a little bit of motivation, but you try to keep it up as high as you can.”

The temperature was 49 degrees at the open-roof MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., at the time of the Super Bowl XLVIII kickoff. Along with the pressure of the game, the cool weather was a concern of Super Bowl athletes and physicians.

Mann said the pressure of being at the Super Bowl affected the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos more than the weather.

“I think, if you would’ve had a team from like Miami or something like that, I think it would’ve been more of a problem,” Mann said.

Cortney Davis, a graduate student in exercise and sports science from Round Rock, Texas, said there is a chance of injury regardless of the weather, but the athletic staff does its best to prevent the players from getting hurt.

Nicole Molter interviews Cortney Davis.

“You have to think about it,” she said. “The Broncos play in a high-altitude area in Denver where it’s cold, and Seattle plays where it’s cold and rainy, and the weather is pretty much the same. I feel like they’re already somewhat adapted, but they do practice in those conditions prior to the game, so they are somewhat used to it.”

Davis said jackets and heaters are provided on the field to help keep players warm in cold weather.  She said high-quality staff, including sports psychologists, team physicians, athletic trainers and numerous coaches, are also on the field to keep everyone as safe and comfortable as possible.

“The Seahawks’ coach, he had an interview on ESPN,” she said, “and he said ‘We’ve been doing the same thing since Day 1.’ Basically that’s saying they have a championship mentality, and they’ve been playing like they’re champions, and I mean you see where they are right now.”