MUSKOGEE — In normal circumstances, tonight's game between two of the state's top football teams should be capturing all of Muskogee football coach Matt Hennesy's attention.
Advertisement
Instead, he was dealing with the fallout from a Thursday evening accident in which a 7-year-old boy's bike ran into the coach's car, which was pulling to a stop before leaving a parking lot.
The boy, Chase Thornton, suffered a broken collarbone, a knot on his head and road rash on a leg and shoulder.
The coach suffered a sullied reputation.
A story in Friday's Muskogee Phoenix quoted Hennesy as saying, "I ought to be dealing with tomorrow night's game, not this crap.”
The newspaper also quoted Hennesy as saying, "I'm not going to file a report against a little kid, even though my car was damaged. It was the kid's fault.”
Hennesy said the context of his statements was misunderstood.
"They made me look like a monster,” the coach said Friday.
Hennesy admitted he may have erred by not calling police after the accident. He said none of several witnesses, including a registered nurse, thought to call the police, either.
The accident happened about 6 p.m. as Hennesy was leaving the parking lot of Indian Bowl stadium. His Muskogee Roughers team, ranked third in the state's top class, had just finished its last practice before tonight's game against top-ranked Tulsa Union.
He said the boy, identified as Chase Thornton, ran into the front of his car while trying to dart across the street. Hennesy said he was looking the other direction and didn't realize his car had been hit until a football player who was riding with him told him.
The coach said he and several other people got out of their cars to help. Hennesy said he called the boy's father, who said he was taking care of a baby and would come as soon as he could.
By then, Hennesy said, his car was blocking the exit, and he was running 20 minutes late to a team dinner that included his superintendent and principal, so he left after the nurse told him she would tend to the injured boy. Two of his players carried the boy to the training room, Hennesy said.
He said he never heard from the child's father again.
The boy's father could not be reached for comment this morning.
About 10 p.m. Thursday, Hennessy said, he was watching game film when a Muskogee police officer called and asked him to come to the hospital and fill out a report.
The officer criticized him for not calling police after the accident but said no citation would be issued, Hennesy said.
The coach said he told the officer, "I'm not going to file a charge, because it's a kid.”
He said a Muskogee Phoenix reporter called his cell phone about 11 p.m. as he filled out the police report.
That's when Hennesy uttered the line that prompted a flood of e-mail responses Friday from angry readers.
"In no way, when I say I shouldn't be dealing with this crap was I referring to the kid or his parents,” Hennesy said Friday.
Instead, he said he was talking about filling out the police report and doing that interview.
By late this morning, Hennesy said he had received about 50 phone calls, all supportive, "from people who know me and know there's no way” his quotes reflected his character.
Police have given information about the accident to the district attorney's office, which will determine if any laws were broken.
Under Oklahoma law, the driver of a vehicle involved in an injury accident is required to immediately call police.
Assistant District Attorney James Walters said Friday he had not seen the police report and has not made a decision on the incident.
CONTRIBUTING: The Associated Press
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
hello? don't move an accident victim that's injured...next time one of Hennesy's players is injured let's run onto the field, yank him up, and move him to the training room. or God forbid someone on his/her way to dinner hit one of his kids and leave the scene without calling the police. how would he feel then? i'm a nurse and there is no way in h*ll i would have told him to go on his merry way. sounds like a true cluster you-know-what.
Just wanted to add my 2 cents worth. I am a teacher in Muskogee and have lived here long enough to know the damage our local paper is capable of. No one knows exactly why, but the Phoenix is quick to jump on the negative in our school rather than the positive; that is what sells papers. Granted, I was not there when the accident happened, like the other bloggers on this page, I am only going by what I have read. But, I do know the area, and it is residential. The street next to the stadium is a very busy street, with no only 2 stops signs at major intersections and there are always kids out riding unattended at all hours of the night. Would I have called the police? Probably. Would I have left the scene, probably not. But I can only say "probably" because again, I was not in Hennesey's shoes. I respect all of your opinions, but please see this from the perspective of the rest of us in the district. This tarnishes a very promising season for our football team and supporters. It stains our reputation which we are trying so hard to improve. Who among us has never made a mistake. Granted, maybe none have made such a grave mistake as this, but forgiveness has to start somewhere. As to the statement he made about "not needing this crap"-consider the setting for a minute. Imagine having this game on your mind, the accident on your mind, filling out a police report and the newspaper calls your CELL PHONE AFTER HOURS for a statement, I can very well see the tension of the moment prompting such a remark. Am I defending the remark? No, not really,but again just trying to maybe put it in perspective. Really, I'm not defending the coach in this comment either. I'm just asking you as readers, parents, human beings to consider when you leave your remarks, this affects more than just Hennesey and Thorton. It affects all of us that call Muskogee home and work and send our kids to school here. Show some tolerance.
By all means, complain. complain about an incident that you have no actual knowledge of anything about what the situation was. As a former paramedic and a HS teacher for 31 years, I get called everytime a student goes down at school. I evaluate the situation and go from there. Sometimes I stay with the student, rarely do I call 911, I stableize, put the kid in the office, make sure his parents are notified then go back to class. A CNS injury is usually apparent to even the most casual onlooker and would most certainly be to a nurse and an athletic trainer (do you really think a program like Muskogee has a hid wrapping ankles as a trainer) most of you people are imagining major trama that from everything I have read simply wasn't there. I don't know this guy and he might well be a first-class ass but he may well not be one either. From a legal standpoint he absolutely should have called the police (to protect himself) but he didn't. I have an idea................let'slet the people who were there sort this thing out and worry about our own little corner of the world. I'm sure that the city of Muskogee has a police department and a district attorney that can function quite nicely without our input. By-the-way, have any of you ever been interviewed by the media? Did they ever get it right? The kid is apparently fine, nothing to see here folks. Move along.
Although the coach does come off as being a jerk, I don't see how he can be blamed for an unsupervised child running his bike into his car. The kid hit him, not the other way around. He still should have called the police, but it's not like he just left him in the street. His own father apparently didn't think it was a big enough deal to come out for his kid. BTW, even a hairline fracture, which isn't always easy to spot, is considered a broken bone. That might explain why nobody noticed the extent of the injury immediately.
Where is Mike Gasaway when we need him. How infantile to blame a 7 year old for one's carelessness. If you feel strongly about this issue, email the school. search for them at Muskogee Public Schools. Look under the item marked parent contact. Complain where it will do some good.
Eric...none of that information was mentioned in the first article and even the update only mentions a nurse. Still no qualifications of the trainer have been mentioned, nor has there been a mention of a Dr. Weaver that you refer to. So, sure, I go off what I read and while I know that the media can spin things however they want and as new facts are presented I will be the first to admit that I am wrong and change my argument. But in this case I still go off the facts of the coach's actions. Honestly, if he had just stayed with the boy until the father got there to talk to him instead of running off to a dinner I would be singing a different tune. I would think that as a parent himself, he would appreciate knowing the person that accidentally hit his child at least stayed around to talk to him. But then again, that is just me. And here is another question I have...if in fact a nurse was present, you would think that she would be able to tell that the boy needed medical attention. He did suffer a broken collarbone. But someone (Eric) said that the nurse said 911 didn't need to be called. OK, maybe this wasn't a 911 emergency, but the boy obviously needed more medical attention than could be given in some locker room. So, I also think that there is some lack of good judgement on the nurses part. Was it Dr. Weaver who took the boy to the hospital? This doctor has not been mentioned in the articles posted on newsok, so I don't know what he is quoted as saying or who he is. And as far as the boy is concerned...I won't argue that the he shouldn't have been supervised, but again, I don't know the facts of if he lived across the street from the stadium or 5 blocks away. I'll even question whether this kid was wearing a helmet as he should have been. Obviously there is probably some lack of good judgement on the parent's part...but not enough to call DHS as someone suggested. Ultimately, my argument here is twofold 1) I don't think the coach acted in a manner that I (and it is my opinion) think he should have. He has 2 kids...how would he feel if someone had hit one of his kids and didn't even stay around, and 2) we shouldn't all be blaming the parent because this child was unsupervised. In fact, don't blame anyone for the situation. It was an accident. BUT...I do have my concerns about the priorities of this coach. I never said he was a horrible person or a monster. But I do question his thought process and priorities. And with that said, Eric...you can comment if you want but I'm sure we will never agree on this.
Stephanie...you hit the nail on the head when you said, "The first story did not mention that a nurse was involved". Exactly. 99% of the people on here decided to comment without knowing the facts. They also didn't know that the "trainer" was actually a licensed physical therapist who was working under Dr. Weaver, whom he called as soon as the boy was under his care. Dr. Weaver is quoted as saying that things went as they should have. So you can get mad about the crap comment, but if the local rag is calling your house at midnight trying to start trouble when you are preparing for one of the biggest days of your work year, you might think it was crap too. Yeah it sucks that the kid rode out in front of him and that he had some minor injuries, but the fact that this man is being attacked like this is just sad. If this was an average citizen it wouldn't have even made the back page of the paper. This stuff happens every single day without message boards and lynch mobs.
Eric...no I don't need a hobby, but I've been on this forum long enough to know the first thing people will jump on will be an incorrect fact. So, I decided to look up where the stadium was to get an idea if this kid was anywhere near a residential neighborhood. But my opinion still stands...someone who makes a comment that they should be dealing with the next night's football instead of this "crap" (no matter what crap refers to, obviously has differnt priorities than many of us on this forum. Also, the first story did not mention that a nurse was involved. All we heard was that the boy was left with an athletic trainer, whose qualifications we know nothing about. And if the Phoenix has such a tainted history with football coaches, then this coach should be familiar with that and could have thought more carefully in his responses. I have not been one of the posters on this forum that has called for his job or thought he should be strung up by his toenails. But, I am one of the posters on this forum that wonders about this man's priorities. When you are involved in an injury accident, I just can't imagine being more concerned about attending a team dinner. And Glenda, the news reports specifically stated that the boy had a broken collarbone.
Great point James. Making it worse is that the clowns on this message board have no clue about the history of the paper in question. But hey, why let facts get in the way of a good old fashion lynching.
I love how some of you (Stephanie and others) love to throw this guy under the bus without knowing anything other than what the Muskogee Phoenix printed. Anyone familiar with the Phoenix knows of its history with football coaches (Ron Freeman) and its history with bending stories to create outrage, which boosts sales and website hits. I love all the people talking about not moving the child because he could have injured his neck. These people have clearly and conviently ignored the fact that a nurse was a witness to the accident and that she didn't feel that calling 911 was appropriate in the situation. I will go with the facts and the facts are that an actual eye witness/nurse didn't feel that calling 911 was necessary and that the coach was clearly misquoted by the local small town rag. The coach was clearly referring to the local "media" and not the kid. I think it speaks volumes that the kids father is fine with the whole situation while people like "jump to conclusions" Stephanie feel like speaking on subjects they know nothing about. Stephanie should find a hobby because if you have time to look up the stadium and surrounding streets on Google Earth, you have WAY too much time on your hands. Lets get a quick show of hands. How many of you witnessed this accident?? Oh...nobody is raising their hand. I guess I will just have to believe the actual witness. You clowns should throw her under the bus too because she didn't know you had to call the cops in the situation either. Oh and either did the dad so throw him under with the nurse. Oh and you might as well add the trainer. And I guess the player riding in the car with the coach too.
Sure are a lot of hyprocritical, judgemental people on here. I think the media has gotten a hold of some comments and of course turned them around on this guy. Then of course people believe about everything they read and now this guy is all of a sudden is a bad person. Wow!
Alicia from MWC, you are WRONG! Police respond to accidents on private property when there are injuries involved. I agree there is plenty of blame to go around, but the coach shouldn't have left!
Actually the kid had no business in a parking lot to begin with without a parent.Second how much damage could the kid have suffered because he hit a car that was damn near stopped. Sounds to like the parents are going to try an get something out of this now that the coach left an left a nurse with the child. Why didn't they call they police an I would bet the kid was out riding his bike today. It's bad that it happenend but it could have been worse than that if the kid had been riding down the road an drunk driver come along an run over him. Wonder how far away this child lived from that parking lot he was in? Anyone know that answer? It's the parents fault for letting the child out like that,.
Are you people missing something here? A 7-year-old is out riding his bicycle, unattended (apparently) in a high school parking lot? OK, the kid ran into the coach's car, the coach ran off to his dinner. In today's world, a 7-year-old should NEVER be on his own. I have an 8-year-old grandson, and the only time he is ever on his own is in his fenced backyard. And that is within the hearing of his parents. Maybe we should be thankful that we are not dealing with another missing child here. The father could not be bothered because he was taking care of another child? With that child in tow, I would be on the scene asap to check on the welfare of my older child. There just has to be more to this story.
Are you people missing something here? A 7-year-old is out riding his bicycle, unattended (apparently) in a high school parking lot? OK, the kid ran into the coach's car, the coach ran off to his dinner. In today's world, a 7-year-old should NEVER be on his own. I have an 8-year-old grandson, and the only time he is ever on his own is in his fenced backyard. And that is within the hearing of his parents. Maybe we should be thankful that we are not dealing with another missing child here. The father could not be bothered because he was taking care of another child? With that child in tow, I would be on the scene asap to check on the welfare of my older child. There just has to be more to this story.
Are you people missing something here? A 7-year-old is out riding his bicycle, unattended (apparently) in a high school parking lot? OK, the kid ran into the coach's car, the coach ran off to his dinner. In today's world, a 7-year-old should NEVER be on his own. I have an 8-year-old grandson, and the only time he is ever on his own is in his fenced backyard. And that is within the hearing of his parents. Maybe we should be thankful that we are not dealing with another missing child here. The father could not be bothered because he was taking care of another child? With that child in tow, I would be on the scene asap to check on the welfare of my older child. There just has to be more to this story.
Are you people missing something here? A 7-year-old is out riding his bicycle, unattended (apparently) in a high school parking lot? OK, the kid ran into the coach's car, the coach ran off to his dinner. In today's world, a 7-year-old should NEVER be on his own. I have an 8-year-old grandson, and the only time he is ever on his own is in his fenced backyard. And that is within the hearing of his parents. Maybe we should be thankful that we are not dealing with another missing child here. The father could not be bothered because he was taking care of another child? With that child in tow, I would be on the scene asap to check on the welfare of my older child. There just has to be more to this story.
Why call the police? If you call the police after having an accident in a parking lot, they will tell you that they don't "handle" accidents in parking lots. The coach should have cancelled his dinner plans and waited for the parent, or had it been more serious called an ambulence. There seems to have been plenty of witnesses. What would have happened if he took the child home in his vehicle or to the hospital?
Lawerence, Oklahoma City - Sep 14, 2007 at 7:16 pm
HaHa!! That pic, along with the associated comments, at http://www.rougherfootball.com/Henno.htm, speak volumes about this guy and his personality (thanks Rusty). I just hope the DA gives him some more "crap" to deal with since he broke the law by leaving the scene of an injury accident. Besides, he can always fall back on professional wrestling if the charges interfere with his coaching career at Muskogee. Oh, one more thing, K-Fed wants his facial hair back Mr. Hennesy.
What if this kid's neck had been fractured and moving him had permanently paralyzed him? YOU NEVER MOVE THEM UNLESS IT'S LIFE OR DEATH. The police should have been called and ambulance. THEY make the call on what his injuries are!! I hope this child recovers fully.
My dear Stephanie- Thanks for the sweet comments. You make it seem like he stood the kid up, put him on the curb, pointed him out to a trainer and took off running away. That didn't happen. He made sure the kid was ok, made sure a nurse was there, had his students take the child to a safe place (I assume the training room), and called the parents and talked to them. The kid was coherent. I hope you guys never jaywalk, speed, or break a law unintentionally and forget to turn yourself in afterwards. He made amends by having a nurse on site and calling the father. Him filling out paperwork or standing idly by wouldn't have affected a single thing. Argue that. Also, read his rebuttal and then question my "mentality".
105
Prev
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).