It should be common knowledge that when an injury happens during a football game, the players take a knee. So, why are the football players at San Luis Obispo High School not taking a knee? 

  A football fan would know because it’s a tradition as old as time to take a knee when something goes wrong. It happens in the professional leagues, so why is it not happening on our home soil? 

  During their most recent win against Atascadero High School, senior football player Seth Wampler was injured. He was laying down on the field, not moving for an extended period of time before the ambulance was called and he was medevaced out. It is out of respect for the teammate or opponent who has been injured that the team takes a knee.

  It can be understood when the player is visibly okay with a hurt knee or hand. The other players on the field can meet to prepare for the next play. However, when someone is on the field with coaches and athletic trainers huddling around them, the other players should take a knee.

  During the game on Friday, when Wampler was injured, even the SLOHS cheerleaders took a knee. 

  “Even if it’s not one of our players, we always take a knee. It’s respectful and it’s out of instinct. We kind of are pressured to take a knee by our captains and our coaches. [The players don’t take a knee] because their coaches tell them to get ready for the next play or something, so that’s usually what I see,” said senior varsity cheerleader Emma Mendoza.

  If the cheer squad takes a knee, what’s stopping the players from taking one too? 

  “[I think] you should take a knee [when someone gets hurt]. We didn’t take a knee [on Friday] because we needed to stay warm. It was really cold [so if we were on a knee for a long time,] we would get really tight,”  said senior varsity football player Ty Evans.

 Players muscles getting tight is a reason to not take a knee but can’t the players wait to stretch until their player is taken away in the ambulance? When Wampler was medevaced away, both SLOHS and AHS players took a few minutes to stretch and warm up again before resuming the game. There was nothing stopping them from performing the common courtesy of taking a knee, yet, no one seemed to participate. 

  In the future, we can only hope SLOHS players will be more courteous of their teammates and take a knee.