Damning report finds ‘striking lack of leadership’ led to Kansas football player’s death

A Kansas community college has released a stunning, damning report on the Aug. 1, 2018, death of Braeden Bradforth, a New Jersey teenager, during his first football practice there.

Bradforth died of exertional heat stroke after running a series of sprints during practice. The 44-page independent report shows why: Virtually every adult at Garden City Community College failed Braeden that day.

“There was a striking lack of leadership ... during the weeks and months leading up to August 1, 2018,” the report says. “This lack of oversight set off a series of events that ended with the death of Braeden Bradforth.”

How did Garden City fail the young student? Let’s count the ways:

▪ Bradforth was not properly assessed by staff before he began his first workout.

▪ The team showed “a lack of preparation to ensure practice safety.”

▪ The school lacked an emergency action plan to respond to Bradforth’s illness.

▪ No one on the school’s staff, and no one with EMS, or at the local hospital, “identified or treated” Bradforth’s symptoms.

▪ The conditioning drill the coach ordered was “poorly designed and administered.”

Coach Jeff Sims, who no longer works at Garden City Community College, showed a breathtaking lack of perspective during the incident. According to the report, Sims repeatedly yelled at Bradforth — a walk-on athlete — as he struggled to run for the first time in Kansas’ August heat.

“Coach Sims was screaming at one particular guy, Braeden, because he was not finishing the run,” one player recalled. “Braeden was out of shape and really tired … there was a lot of screaming, and everyone felt bad because they could see Braeden was trying, but he was physically worn out.”

“Coach Sims cussed out Braeden stating that he was soft,” another player told investigators.

Sims’ behavior was appalling. If he had any self-awareness, he would quit coaching today.

Sims wasn’t the only bad actor that day. After the practice, the report says, Bradforth walked away from the field feeling ill. He collapsed in an alley on campus, where he was found 30 minutes after practice ended, struggling to breathe.

But emergency responders did not recognize Bradforth’s heat illness and didn’t treat him for it. The ambulance lacked a rectal thermometer, so the teenager’s internal temperature wasn’t assessed.

Doctors at the hospital missed the symptoms, too.

“As severe as Braeden Bradforth’s condition was, no one identified the problem that was causing his death,” investigators found. “Braeden therefore received no treatment at the hospital for the medical condition that would end his life.”

Garden City police did not investigate Bradforth’s death. Security tapes that might have revealed details of the incident were not preserved.

The report also revealed “dysfunctional chaos” at the institution itself, a crisis that involved more than the football team, but that some believe contributed to Bradforth’s death.

“During 2017 and 2018,” the report says, “Garden City Community College faced financial issues, accreditation issues, litigation issues, staff turnover and related issues, technology and physical infrastructure issues, Title IX issues, possible National Junior College Athletic Association and Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference violations and sanctions, and the possibility of a U.S. Department of Education investigation into financial aid violations.”

Trustees at the school have promised multiple improvements in the athletic department, which are clearly overdue. But they aren’t enough.

Kansas lawmakers should demand hearings during the next legislative session on the shocking lack of institutional control at Garden City. What went wrong? Could this happen at other schools? Does the state exercise appropriate oversight over young athletes?

Why was the EMS system in Garden City ill-equipped? Why did police fail to investigate the incident? How can this be prevented?

Adults failed Bradforth that night. Adults cannot fail him, or us, now.

Braeden’s family is mourning his passing. He died because adults didn’t care, and weren’t prepared. The shame will stay with the school forever, and his death stains Kansas. This must never happen again.