Football Player Practiced For An Hour With A Venomous Snake Inches From His Head And Never Knew
An Arkansas high school football player spent nearly an hour practicing with a venomous snake inches from his head.
And in case you’re wondering whether it was some bizarre football camp drill, it wasn’t.
According to reports, the Maumelle High School player noticed something moving inside his helmet during practice on August 6.
He brought the helmet to a defensive coach, who quickly realized something was very wrong.
A roughly two-foot-long snake had somehow crawled underneath the helmet padding.
Coaches initially couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
“It really was just shock and disbelief,” athletic director Kirk Horton told KARK. “I’ve got a better shot at winning the lottery than seeing this in my ten years.”
The team secured the helmet in a tote bag while waiting for animal services to arrive. Eventually, officials identified the snake as a cottonmouth.
That made the situation considerably more serious. Cottonmouths are venomous pit vipers that often seek dark, protected places.
Apparently, a football helmet qualified.
Football Player Extremely Fortunate To Escape Unharmed After Venomous Snake Moved Into His Helmet
Animal Services Director Chris Davis said the player was extremely fortunate.
“He had been wearing that helmet for almost an hour,” Davis said.
Officials eventually used water to force the snake from its hiding place. They captured it safely before relocating it to a wooded area away from the school.
Davis said he has removed snakes from some unusual locations.
Cars. Engine compartments. Purses. Backpacks. A football helmet, however, was a first.
“In a helmet? Never,” Davis said. “It was very unreal.”
The player escaped the encounter without a bite. He received a replacement helmet and actually returned to practice.
That might be the most impressive part of this entire story.
The incident has also added a new item to Maumelle coaches’ equipment checklist.
Players were reminded to inspect their gear before putting it on. That would have been basic advice going in one ear, out the other, the day before a snake crawled up in a helmet.
They will definitely take heed now.
Football Player Practiced For An Hour With A Venomous Snake Inches From His Head And Never Knew
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