A Retrospective Study of the Effect of an Athlete's Sudden Death on Teammates

Abstract

This study investigated the psychological effects of a teammate's sudden death on the remaining team members at the end of their collegiate careers (4 years later). The football players (N = 10) were interviewed and answered a series of open-ended questions asking them for their feelings, emotions, and attitudes since the death of their teammate. The data were drawn from verbatim transcriptions of the interviews and were inductively content analyzed. The findings indicated: a) initially similar responses from teammates (shock and disbelief); b) mixed reactions concerning the influence of the event on individual lives; c) deep emotions during the interviews; and d) a diversity of defense mechanisms utilized by young men to deal with traumatic life events.