I Know It's One Side Of The Story Still, But I Don't See PRP Football Coach, Jason Stinson, Getting Away "Scott Free" In Death Of Max Gilpin. No, Sir.

Players testify they were vomiting, gasping at practice where Max Gilpin collapsed
By Jason Riley

Several current and former Pleasure Ridge Park High School football players testified Wednesday that they saw teammates who were vomiting, stumbling, crying — and even having trouble breathing — at the Aug. 20, 2008, practice where teammate Max Gilpin collapsed from heat stroke.

Most of the players estimated they ran 20 to more than 30 wind sprints — far more than normal — and described former head coach Jason Stinson as being angry, yelling at players and denying them water.

Stinson is standing trial in Jefferson Circuit Court on felony charges of reckless homicide and wanton endangerment in Max's death, three days after that August practice.

Christian Vincent, 17, said Stinson called him a “coward” after he vomited and took a break from running wind sprints to catch his breath.

And Charles “Chase” Sweat, 16, told jurors he was running next to Max when he saw the 15-year-old sophomore lineman vomit and stumble during sprints and fall to his knees trying to catch his breath.

But under cross-examination from Stinson's attorneys, the players acknowledged that the wind sprints were not timed — as was customary — and players were running at their own pace.

Some sat out the sprints if they weren't feeling well, without punishment, and one player testified that he vomited because he drank too much water before running sprints.

Sweat testified that he and a teammate had to lift up Max during a break to help him keep running sprints, which Stinson told the team would continue until a player quit.

As Sweat testified, Michele Crockett, Max's mother, left the courtroom sobbing.

David Thompson, 19, said after Gilpin collapsed, he was unresponsive and had “white stuff” around his mouth as teammates carried him off the field.

“His face was like a pale blue,” Thompson said.

Prosecutors have told the jury the practice was “barbaric.” But Stinson's attorneys have said that while the practice may have been hard, players were given water breaks and were allowed to stop if they were filling ill.

The defense has also repeatedly told jurors that the practice had to end by about 6:15 p.m. that day because buses were coming to take some players home, meaning the team knew Stinson couldn't make them run all night.

And some of the players testified they didn't have troubles running — or complaints about Stinson's conduct.

David Englert, a wide receiver on the team when Max died, testified that he was the player who quit the team and ended the running at the Aug. 20 practice. But he said he quit because Stinson was yelling at him, not because he was feeling ill or tired.

Englert, who said a friend quit the team with him, told jurors he was never denied water and that the practice wasn't the hardest he had ever attended.

Senior Daniel Farris said he was allowed to skip the sprints and sit in the shade with an ice pack because he felt sick.

And Vincent acknowledged he had no problem with Stinson before or after the practice and that the coach often called players cowards to motivate them.

Vincent, a defensive lineman, also said he was allowed to take a break from three wind sprints when he began to feel ill.

And he testified that coaches did not make him run again. Vincent said he was motivated by Stinson calling him a coward and began running again on his own.

Vincent said the team got water breaks during practice but that Gilpin and other linemen missed the last water break before Stinson ordered players to start running sprints because they were receiving extra instruction from four assistant coaches.

The defense has argued that medical tests on Max when he arrived at the hospital showed he was not dehydrated, indicating that a lack of water had nothing to do with the teen's death.

Vincent testified that practice was tougher than usual and the wind sprints made it “so hard to catch a breath and keep a breath.”

When he arrived home, Vincent's family told him he was pale and didn't seem himself, so his uncle, a firefighter with training as an emergency-medical technician, checked his vital signs.

Brandon Kitchens, who was an eighth-grader practicing with the PRP freshman last year, said the team normally ran about four sprints but that day they ran about 30. When he asked to get water, Kitchens said a coach told him to wait until Stinson gave permission.

“My body was completely numb and my mouth was dry,” Kitchens said.

And Cordell Watts, a former PRP defensive end, said after the sprints, he was lightheaded, but when players tried to get water, Stinson told them “I didn't tell you all to get water; you get water when I tell you to,” and had them attend a team meeting first.

The defense noted in cross-examination with players that the team meeting lasted five minutes and then players were allowed to get water.