Kentucky player killed in car accident
Posted: Sunday November 15, 1998 10:58 PM
LEXINGTON, Kentucky (AP) -- A truck carrying two Kentucky football
players on a deer-hunting trip flipped on a rural highway Sunday,
killing one of them and injuring starting center Jason Watts.
Another man, a passenger who was not on the team, was also
killed in the early-morning accident in which the pickup truck
veered off the highway and then swung back onto the road before
rolling over.
Killed were Arthur Steinmetz, 19, of Edgewood, a defensive
lineman who transferred to Kentucky from Michigan State in August
and was sitting out the season, and Scott Brock, 21, of Hyden.
Watts, the driver, was in fair condition Sunday after being
airlifted to Lexington's University of Kentucky Medical Center from
Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital in Somerset. Brock and Steinmetz
were pronounced dead at the scene.
Watts suffered a severe laceration of his forearm and was to
have surgery Monday to begin cleaning the wound and repairing the
damage, Kentucky athletic director C.M. Newton said at a Sunday
evening news conference.
Newton spoke on behalf of football coach Hal Mumme, who canceled
his usual Sunday conference call.
"Hal is really struggling with this," Newton said. "On a
personal level, he's struggling with it, and on a professional
level he's doing what he needs to be doing, which is being
available to his players and to the families involved as well as
his own staff."
Newton said Mumme planned to visit Watts on Sunday evening.
Kentucky's director of media relations, Rena Vicini, said about two
dozen teammates had come to see Watts in the emergency room Sunday.
Watts was aware of what had happened and was grieving, said
Newton. Vicini described the scene as "very emotional."
"You think they're men and then you see them in situations like
this, and they're really just kids," she said.
The accident occurred just hours after Kentucky (7-3) defeated
Vanderbilt 55-17 on Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium. Watts was one
of the players honored during Senior Day ceremonies on the field
that were attended by his parents.
Pulaski County Sheriff Sam Catron said the accident happened
just before 7 a.m. EST on southbound U.S. 27, about 60 miles south
of Lexington and 10 miles north of Somerset.
Catron said the 1985 Chevy truck in which the men were traveling
drifted onto the shoulder of the road. Watts apparently got the
truck back on the pavement but overcorrected, sending it across the
two-lane highway and off the other side, throwing all three men
from the vehicle, Catron said.
None were wearing seat belts.
According to Newton, Watts walked to a nearby farmhouse for
help. In addition to the cut to his forearm, which stretched from
his elbow to his wrist, Watts suffered a number of bruises and
other cuts.
"It's a total shock. It's awful. It's just terrible," Michigan
State coach Nick Saban said Sunday after informing his players of
Steinmetz's death. "Artie Steinmetz was a fine young man, very
well respected around here as a worker and as a person."
Catron said the weather was clear at the time and police were
investigating. He said investigators took blood samples from Watts
for alcohol testing, a routine step in such cases.
Newton said he had been given no indication alcohol was involved
in the accident.
The Wildcats finish their regular season Saturday against
undefeated and top-ranked Tennessee at Knoxville. They are expected
to receive their first bowl bid since 1993.
"Something like this kind of puts bowl games and winning
seasons and a big game with an arch-rival into perspective,"
Newton said. "You go from a high of a Saturday we all experienced
to the reality of a Sunday morning."
Mumme schedules no practices or team meetings for Sundays, and
players are generally free to do what they please, as long as
they're back for Monday afternoon meetings and practice.
Watts, a three-year starter from Oviedo, Florida, is an avid
outdoorsman who loves fishing, hunting and listed alligator
wrestling as his hobby in the team media guide.
The 6-foot-3, 271-pounder has been a mainstay of the offensive
line that has given star quarterback Tim Couch good protection all
season. He had caught two passes this season, both off deflections.
Steinmetz would have had three years of eligibility remaining
starting with the 1999 season.
Brock was a student at Eastern Kentucky University and had
played with Couch at Leslie County High School in Hyden. Newton
said Couch returned home to Hyden on Sunday to be with Brock's
family.
Newton said a local minister would attend Monday's team meeting,
which is to be the first full gathering of the team since the
accident. He said the school would make counseling available to any
players who need it.
Funeral arrangements for Steinmetz and Brock were not
immediately available.
| Related information |
| Multimedia |
 Click here for the latest audio and video
|
| Search our site | Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day |
|
|
Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call 1-888-53-CNNSI. |
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
