Ballard, Matthew James Ply
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- Pages: 39
September 09, 2008
This is Detective Dan Alpiger with the Louisville Metro Homicide Unit. Today’s date is September the 09th of 2008. The current time is 10:00 o’clock. I’m here in my car with Matthew James Ballard in the PRP High School parking lot in reference to Case File 08-197. Mr. Ballard, are you aware the tape recorder is on recording our conversation?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
And you’re okay with that?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Okay for the record please state your name and spell it for me?
Ballard
Uh, Matthew Ballard. M-a-t-t-h-e-w B-a-l-l-a-r-d.
Alpiger
And your date of birth, Matthew?
Ballard Alpiger
O.K. And your address and phone number?
Ballard
x My phone number is
Page 2 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
O.K. And we’re here in relation to an incident that happened a couple of weeks ago. Are you familiar with that incident?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. Just uh, before we start with that, let me —give me an idea… are you in—what grade are you in?
Ballard
9th.
Alpiger
Okay you’re a freshman here; this is your first year?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
At PRP?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
And you are on the football team?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
On the freshman football team?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
What position you play?
Ballard
Quarterback.
Alpiger
O.K. And do you know uh, Max?
Ballard
I know him, yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. And you know why we’re here?
Page 3 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
In relation to an incident that happened with Max a couple weeks ago. Is that correct?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Okay how do you know Max?
Ballard
I know Max from the locker room and from just playing because he’s a very good player. I know, like, because coaches talk about him and stuff. Like when a player that does a good job, they tell him. Max does a good job almost all the time. He’s really good.
Alpiger
O.K. If you don’t mind try to speak up a little bit okay.
Ballard
O.K.
Alpiger
I’m gonna move this just a little bit closer to you, hopefully it’ll help. Uh, you said you also went to camp with Max?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Football camp?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
When was that?
Ballard
Uh, the beginning of August, it was like the 3rd or the 4th.
Alpiger
O.K.
Page 4 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Ballard
2 or 3 days.
Alpiger
O.K. And you said he was in a room besides yours or next to yours?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. Did you have an opportunity to talk to him at those times?
Ballard
I used… because I broke my arm when I was at camp and like I got on the way back to practice and stuff, I would talk to him just about like how practice went and stuff, and he would like try to encourage me to keep like with the football team because of my injury and he wanted me to keep going because he said I was a good player.
Alpiger
O.K. Do you recall what day this incident happened that we’re looking into right now?
Ballard
A couple weeks ago on a Thursday. I know it was Thursday.
Alpiger
You’re sure it was Thursday?
Ballard
I’m pretty sure.
Alpiger
O.K and you recall it was Thursday, it was on uh, it was in August?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Okay do you remember what day it was in August?
Ballard
No sir. I don’t remember the exact date..
Page 5 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
You went to—you went to camp in August; 3rd and 4th?
Ballard
Around then. Yes sir.
Alpiger
Around then, okay, how many days or weeks aft… week after camp was this incident?
Ballard
Uh, it was around a week, a week or two after school started so when school started the middle of August like the 16th, (inaudible) it was a couple weeks after.
Alpiger
Okay a week or two after school started; school started on August the 16th? O.K.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Um, up until that point that Thursday, two weeks after school started were you practicing with the team?
Ballard
I was…
Alpiger
Was the team having regular daily practices?
Ballard
Yes, the team was having practices but I couldn’t practice because of my arm. The doctor wouldn’t let me.
Alpiger
O.K. I understand that but the team was having practices. When did the team—when did this practicing for the season start with the team?
Ballard
The practicing for the season started in the middle of July.
Alpiger
Okay so some point during you guys practice
Page 6 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
for a few weeks in July. Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Although you were probably a part of that because you hadn’t broke your arm yet.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. Went to camp.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Where was that?
Ballard
It was at Georgetown College.
Alpiger
O.K. Uh, went to camp for a couple of days?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
And you came back and you started practice again?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. And about how long after you get back from camp—you say it’s about 2 more weeks that you camp; well, it was about 3 or 4 weeks after that because you got back about the 4th and 5th.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
So and school started on the 16th?
Ballard
I believe so.
Alpiger
So it’s gonna be 3 or 4 weeks after you get
Page 7 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
back from camp? Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
And during this off season in July, how often were your practices?
Ballard
During July, um they’re 4 days a week, every week, 4 and 5 days.
Alpiger
And how long?
Ballard
Um, from 8:30 we’re supposed to get in the locker room at 8:00. We started practice about 8:30 and we were done around 11:30—12:00.
Alpiger
O.K. And then once school started, of course, that’s changed?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. How was it changed after school started?
Ballard
After school started the varsity would go lift weights right after school and the freshmen would have to go to study hall until 3:10 and then we all got together to practiced with the team.
Alpiger
Outside?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. They started at, well, I’m sorry, what time 3:15?
Ballard
3:10 was when the freshmen got out of study hall and about 5—10 minutes later the varsity got out of lifting weights.
Page 8 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
O.K. And they meet… what time did school get out?
Ballard
School gets out at 2:20.
Alpiger
Okay so you’re—you’re just, I guess, just under an hour of study hall?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
At that point the varsity teams uh, doing weight training?
Ballard
Yes, sophomores and up does weight training.
Alpiger
O.K. Typically after study hall what does your practice consist of?
Ballard
Our practice consists of we go and we go out to the practice field, we stretch for about 10— 15 minutes probably we stretch and then after we stretch we do the what coach calls team take off, where the offense runs like against no defense and the defense runs against, well, we don’t… they don’t have offense. It’s pretty much like it’s uh, it’s where the coach wants us to get a slight, get familiar with the offensive plays and defensive plays, and familiar with the players around us and how fast they are or/and how like how we’re gonna have to move if we’re in a game and then the coach gives us a water break and then we go back out and we do our individual, we have our individual times, where receivers and quarterbacks work together and the linemen work together and the running backs they do their thing and then after that is another water break. And then we do either full scrimmage
Page 9 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
like varsity scrimmage varsity, JV on JV, freshmen on freshmen or we do 7 on 7 in the same like… thing where the varsity scrimmage, does each other and then JV and the freshmen do the freshmen. Alpiger
O.K.
Ballard
And then…
Alpiger
Go ahead I’m sorry.
Ballard
O.K. And then coach gives us water again and then we run. Then we do our conditioning. That’s practice normally.
Alpiger
O.K. Explain conditioning?
Ballard
Conditioning usually consists of 6 to 8 gassers —a gassers where we got to run; like if the… we run like the width of the field; we run the width of the field down and back; down and back, is one gasser, and we do it usually about 6 to 7 times.
Alpiger
This is on a daily basis?
Ballard
Uh…
Alpiger
This is a typical practice?
Ballard
Before the game starts, yes.
Alpiger
O.K. Do the gasser, what you’re calling a gasser, you’re running the width of the practice field?
Ballard
Which is I think 50 yards.
Page 10 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
O.K. Approximately 50 yards, you run it 4 times?
Ballard
Yes. We run down, we touch the line, we come back, touch the line, go back, touch the line, and come back.
Alpiger
O.K.
Ballard
And then, like, we split it up, like the varsity and JV, like bigger guys like linemen, they run it. And then the varsity, JV, uh like running backs and stuff, they run it. And then the freshmen like linemen and stuff, they run it and then the freshmen backs and receivers, they run it. Because like, we split it up so like you have more break in-between each one that we’re running.
Alpiger
O.K. So they’re not all running it at the same time, you’ll have a group… how many?
Ballard
We have our group of probably about 20—30, somewhere around there.
Alpiger
20 or 30 running the gasser at one time, so while they’re running everybody else is waiting their turn?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
O.K. When they get back, somebody—another group of 20 or 30 goes?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
How many groups do we have?
Ballard
We have four groups.
Page 11 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
Four, so if you’re—if you’re not actually running, you have 3 groups of people ahead of you before your turn comes?
Ballard
Yes, we just—we stand there and we catch our breath so.
Alpiger
O.K. And that’s a typical practice?
Ballard
Yes, that was a typical practice before our games and everything; before like the actual season started.
Alpiger
Has it… has it changed since the season started?
Ballard
Yes sir. Like Mondays, I don’t know, like Mondays, like the varsity would stuff like, video, Like JV has a game on Mondays, so the freshmen, we get out early unless you’re playing JV; the freshmen we get out early and it’s usually like a walk through practice. It’s like no—no equipment except a helmet and cleats and a practice jersey, is all we do Monday… on Mondays, and then Tuesdays is like our full practice, full go; everybody because no one has a game or anything and then Wednesdays, I’m speaking from the freshmen because I don’t know exactly what the JV and varsity do. Like on Wednesdays uh, it’s, for freshmen, it’s an easy day normally or it’s an easier day. Because we have a game on Thursday, it’s like our pre-day practice getting ready for the game. Then Thursdays, we have our games, and Friday we have off.
Alpiger
O.K. You don’t practice at all on Fridays?
Page 12 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Ballard
No. The Varsity has their Friday night games.
Alpiger
O.K. I wasn’t thinking of that. For some reason I thought they were on weekends but I knew that they’re not. Um, going back to the day that this incident with Max, you said you thought it was a Thursday.
Ballard
I believe so, yes sir.
Alpiger
A couple weeks after school started.
Ballard
Yeah.
Alpiger
So, it’s actually about 2, 3 weeks ago?
Ballard
Yes. Something around there.
Alpiger
O.K. Tell me about the practice that day?
Ballard
That day at practice everybody was like, they weren’t doing anything…
Alpiger
Start off from…?
Ballard
O.K.
Alpiger
Did you have study hall that day?
Ballard
Uh, yes sir. Had study hall.
Alpiger
O.K. Start with the best you can do with the times that you can tell?
Ballard
We had study hall and then we did our… we started our normal every day practice with we do stretching, the team take-offs, the individuals and everything but instead that day everybody decided that they wanted to walk
Page 13 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
around instead of like hustling and like we normally do because coaches like his main thing is uh, sell out, which pretty much means do your best you can every time, don’t like slack off one time thinking oh, I’ll get it next time because you might not, you might not get your opportunity like when you get opportunities, sell out, do—do what you can to make the best of it and I was like that’s our whole thing, that and our pride and integrity whatever. And nobody like nobody was selling out that day except Max and he was the coach made us run or made the team… I couldn’t practice of course, still. But the coach made the team run because no… like nobody was giving it their all, no one was doing their best so I guess coach figured that, hey they got energy to do… build up the energy, they’re just gonna walk around so they must have the energy to run because didn’t have—didn’t do anything in practice, really. Then before he like, “everybody get a water break because we’re about to… we’re gonna run”. Alpiger
Okay tell me so what you’re saying is people— the team’s kind of sluggish?
Ballard
Yes. The team was sluggish, kinda slacking off.
Alpiger
Not hustling like the coach would’ve wanted them to. You said everybody was kind of sluggish except for Max?
Ballard
Yeah, Max and a couple other players.
Alpiger
O.K. Um, you didn’t dress out?
Ballard
No, I… I just started practicing like this week.
Page 14 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
But you were there?
Ballard
Yes, I was watching…because we have like bleachers, a matter of fact like a little set of bleachers under a tree in our back field that’s where the injured players would sit. And like, sometimes we have help out the coaches and stuff.
Alpiger
Okay so you—you weren’t a part of the run or you weren’t a part of the…
Ballard
No, but I saw ,like, what was going on.
Alpiger
O.K. You had your study hall and you get out of the study hall about 3:10.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. From that point you go to the uh, the freshmen go to the locker, they dress out, go out to the field.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
You do your stretching?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
And this is—and this is that day that Max fell out.
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
You do your stretching?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Page 15 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
You do uh…
Ballard
The team-take off.
Alpiger
The team-take off, that’s where you guys split up and go in the different groups?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Offense… with offense, defense and all of that; the defense freshmen uh, varsity and junior varsity?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Kind of split up and do individual skills?
Ballard
Yeah, like the—the varsity gets a play and then the JV will get a play and then the freshmen will get a play and then we keep rotating,10 times, I think.
Alpiger
O.K. After that you get the impression the coach is a little bit ticked off that people seeming to be a little sluggish?
Ballard
Yes, because, people they’re like, after, like because they’re supposed to sprint out like after you run your plays, like, not only the running backs have to run but the linemen they get up and they sprint to like 10 yards, I think it was, 10 yards you gotta sprint through the 10 yards. ‘Cause, that’s what coach, like, he wants us to sprint out… he wants us sprint through it and it’s not like just walking around and everything. And that day people just kind of walked in and he wants you to walk around.
Alpiger
O.K. You said something about he told—he
Page 16 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
gave everybody a water break and said something like you need to get back here because we’re gonna start running because… how did that all turn about; give me, give me that scenario again? Ballard
Uh, like, people after our individual period where you break off into like, positions, people were still just kind of sluggish and walking and everything and coach, he was saying, he was telling us like, even before that practice specifically I remember him telling us, you guys this week you gotta sell out, you gotta sell out for your teammates, sell out for each other and we’re gonna win this game because we easily got enough talent to do it. It’s just a matter if you guys want to hustle a lot. So and uh, nobody was doing it except for a couple players. And Max was one of those players that always did it no matter what.
Alpiger
Who were some of the other players that on this particular day that were given—that were hustling like… like the coach would’ve expected?
Ballard
Uh, Logan, Logan Ratterman he always does. Um, Corey Avery he always does. Sam uh, I just know him by Sam, he’s a varsity linebacker. Uh, Sam always does. The other Sam, the tight end, he always does. David Cowan always does. Just the players that they, like the coach expects them, he expects everybody to do it but he if he doesn’t see the others, because they’re the leaders of our team like they always, they’re the players that always do.
Alpiger
So these few names that you mentioned they’re
Page 17 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
typically the leaders? Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
O.K. On this Thursday a couple weeks ago, everybody goes takes a water break. The coach says go take a break because when we get back we’re gonna start running?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Something…
Ballard
Because you’re not running at practice, you’re not running through our drills, we’re gonna run.
Alpiger
But at the same time you’re saying that this is something that he does almost every practice anyway?
Ballard
Yes. But it was um… he like stopped like that’s (inaudible). We like, we were doing our 7 on 7s I believe in a way and everybody was kind of sluggish walked around and everything so he was like okay, we’re just gonna stop this and we’re gonna start running.
Alpiger
O.K. So this is something that he changed?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
For this practice?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Uh, he was upset with the way practice was going?
Page 18 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
And decided get a break, come back, we’re gonna start running.
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Um, and the running that you’re talking about, that’s what you were calling…
Ballard
The gassers.
Alpiger
The gassers. He had everybody do that.
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
You aren’t a part of all that because you’re sitting on the sidelines?
Ballard
Yeah, I’m sitting watching what happens.
Alpiger
How long did the gassers last?
Ballard
About 30-45 minutes probably.
Alpiger
Okay and how long do they normally last?
Ballard
About 20 or 30.
Alpiger
So we’re talking a few more minutes?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Than normal?
Ballard
A few more minutes running.
Alpiger
And is that because he stopped?
Page 19 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Ballard
It’s because he stopped it early.
Alpiger
Stopped the other course of practice early to get this… these gassers going because he needs to get people hustling.
Ballard
(Inaudible) hustling, yes.
Alpiger
OK. When the coach gives water breaks or does everybody go at the same time?
Ballard
Normally.
Alpiger
Normally. Is there circumstances when he— when everybody doesn’t go at the same time?
Ballard
It—it’s usually like because we have, like, and uh, coach would be like certain groups of people like the running backs, they get water and when they come back, like the linemen will get water. Like we alternate… like we don’t all hundred and something players go at one time, like we have like a group of players go, and then when they come back, other group of players go.
Alpiger
But he doesn’t say Matt, you’re doing a good job, go get a drink of water?
Ballard
No.
Alpiger
It’s either a group of people or nobody usually?
Ballard
Yes. I mean we usually get water at the same times everyday, so we know when we get a water break.
Alpiger
Okay, actually what you were telling me before was between courses of practice?
Page 20 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
After uh?
Ballard
After everybody…
Alpiger
After you break off, do that course of practice, then you go get… then he sends that team to get a drink of water and a break—take a break. Did you, were you there at the water fountain when people were getting their drinks on this day?
Ballard
Yes, That was when, like; I go out and I do some stuff like, if we’re, like, learning new plays, I think we learned some new plays that day or something; and I went out there, I mean, to see what was going on because I have to like, know the plays when I come back, when I was gonna come back. But it sounds like okay and then he tells us to all get water so I went over there to get a little drink, but I usually wait for all the other players to get their drink because I don’t, I’m just sitting there I don’t really need it as much as they do so I was like okay, I got my drink. I got like that.
Alpiger
Okay how many water breaks did—did they take on this day, on this Thursday that you can recall?
Ballard
3 or 4.
Alpiger
3 or 4?
Ballard
And then we can get drinks easy like because we, the players we—we turn the faucets on that we have like there’s like a big troth, like
Page 21 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
sprayer thing and like water shoots out the holes in it like there’s a lever that pulls up like they all come on at once, so we can get water before and after practice. Like before practice we want a drink some water, and then we have like bottles of water and stuff in the locker room. Alpiger
Uh-huh. O.K. Okay so they on this date, there was 3 or 4 water breaks given; right?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
You’re saying that they have water accessible in the locker room?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
In bottled form and any time one of the kids wanted to before the practice started, they could go to this water fountain that’s in the field and turn it on and get a drink or cool off?
Ballard
(?).
Alpiger
It was my understanding that Max fell out during the gassers?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. Prior to beginning the gassers everybody had a break.
Ballard
Everybody got a break.
Alpiger
O.K.
Ballard
Coach makes you get a break like some players; they just want to stand around while
Page 22 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
they’re getting water. Coach makes them, like, you know, you need, you’re gonna need it, go get it. Alpiger
O.K.
Ballard
He’s told me that before, cause I’m like, no, I’m not thirsty, go get water.
Alpiger
So if, if he gives you a break and you’re not going to get a drink of water, he makes sure that you do go get the drink?
Ballard
Yes. He tells you go get some water.
Alpiger
When that’s typical of the coach?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Did… and okay, going back to the last water break that the team took as a team.
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
That’s when the gassers began?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Right? Any other kind of practicing, the whole team was doing this?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
O.K. And that’s when you explained to me that you have 4 groups of people running at a time; you run 50 yards, touch the line, touch the end of the line and come back 50 yards, touch the line again, go back 50 yards touch the line, and come back another 50 yards and
Page 23 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
then that’s done for that sprint. Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
That particular… you get back in the end of the line and another groups goes?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
So while you run 200 yards while you’re running, while you’re waiting, three other groups of people run 200 yards, they do the same thing that you just did?
Ballard
(Inaudible).
Alpiger
Not that you just did but the person that…
Ballard
No, while I’m waiting, there’s about 3 groups waiting (inaudible).
Alpiger
O.K. So how many of these gassers do you think this team—that the team did?
Ballard
15 or 20 probably. I heard from some of the players they said they ran 20 but it’s probably, closer to 15. It takes—it takes like a while to, 4 groups of people to run a bunch of times
Alpiger
Again, uh, you didn’t run any of these?
Ballard
No. I started to run, but I didn’t, because I felt that like a couple days ago, I tried to run with the team whatever and the coach told me it’s like a doctor’s note, you can’t run because the doctor hasn’t cleared you and if something happens then it’s my fault then. You’re just not gonna run.
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Alpiger
O.K. But on this day you didn’t run either?
Ballard
No. I didn’t run either day.
Alpiger
But you were sitting as a… on the near the bleacher under the tree watching pretty much the whole thing?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
And you’re thinking that each group of kids that ran the gassers did about 15 to 20 of ‘em; you’re thinking closer to 15.
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Did that and again you told me how many minutes you think this was that the gassers were?
Ballard
Probably about around 30—40 something like that.
Alpiger
Since the time you got done with the water break to…
Ballard
Well it started at 6:00—6:30 maybe 6:20— 6:30. No, no. No, no. I’m confused.
Alpiger
What time is practice usually over?
Ballard
Practice is usually over at 6:30, so we probably started about 5:20… 5:30, somewhere around in there.
Alpiger
O.K. And so that’s 5:20 to 5:30, 30—40 minutes.
Ballard
Yes.
Page 25 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
And then that’s a few more minutes than what you normally would have done?
Ballard
We normally run about 20 maybe 30.
Alpiger
O.K. Uh, at any point… it’s my understanding that at some point on this particular day, how were the guys dressed when they were running the gassers?
Ballard
Uh, it started out, full equipment but then like as the gassers got on Coach let us take our jerseys and pads off and helmets. First, it started that they can take their helmets off, and then as they started running more—more, they let them take their shoulder pads and stuff off… their shoulder pads.
Alpiger
O.K. Did anybody treatment on that? Did coach say you’re doing you’re doing good, sit that?
Ballard
Yes. He did it to several of the players.
Alpiger
O.K.
Ballard
It was like I don’t even know why but some of the players got to get done early, he says okay, go get a drink and come back.
Alpiger
So he stopped some of the players and told ‘em to go get a drink and come back.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. Do you know who those were?
get any preferable anybody say; did the good, sit down. That down, anything like
Page 26 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Ballard
No sir.
Alpiger
How many of those kids you think that happened to?
Ballard
Uh… at one point like most of the team was done and so the players who were just kinda like even just walking on the gassers then we were kinda jogging (?) by walking around. They were still running (inaudible).
Alpiger
I’m sorry, back up again.
Ballard
O.K. Coach, let, like, lets the players go and then like most of the players were finished running, then some of the players that were just kind of walking around and everything, they’re just even walking like in the gassers that we were running, the coach made them keep running because they still weren’t doing what he wanted to do.
Alpiger
They weren’t hustling enough.
Ballard
No sir.
Alpiger
O.K. Where was Max in that?
Ballard
Max was… he was he started, he was hustling that was the thing he was hustling and everything but I… I believe he was still running.
Alpiger
O.K. So he wasn’t one that was singled out saying you can stop?
Ballard
Right, Coach was like, it wasn’t exactly singled out like after one, like after a gasser he
Page 27 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
would like take 2… 2 or 3 players and let ‘em go. Alpiger
Let ‘em go get a drink, then come back and start running again?
Ballard
While they were standing and waiting.
Alpiger
They were done?
Ballard
Yeah.
Alpiger
O.K. If he singled you out and said go get a drink, come back, uh then you were actually done for that?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Until everybody got done.
Ballard
Right. It was uh…
Alpiger
Did anybody and while running the gassers feel like they needed to go get a drink without permission like I gotta… I’m not feeling good, I gotta go get a drink or something, cool off.
Ballard
Oh, none of the players did that, but some like, I think it was Ralph, he went over and like, ‘cause the shade tree, it blocks, like some of the field, like along the edge, and like he went he stood there, uh, Coach Deacon, he’s like what are you doing? He’s like I’m standing here for shade, he says no you do, you’re one of our newer players you guys haven’t been out here since uh, July—April, lifting weights and working out with the team, you’re one of our new players, you don’t—you can’t get special privileges, you gotta stand in the sun like
Page 28 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
everybody else. Alpiger
So the guy named Ralph tried to get some shade and—and Deacon…
Ballard
Told him to come back.
Alpiger
Come back and stand with the rest of the team?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
But then nobody asked for water; nobody asked for a break or anything?
Ballard
Not that I remember.
Alpiger
Did uh, did anybody else become sick or ill?
Ballard
Um…
Alpiger
Or any other circumstances?
Ballard
I think Calloway, he was like, breathing real heavy, they had to take him under the tree and let him sit down for a minute, catch his breath. Coach let him like, hey stop, go over there.
Alpiger
So when he started having some kind of uh, respiratory problems, did the coach let him stop?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Catch his breath, cool off? did he come back in?
Ballard
No.
Alpiger
Okay how long—how long after the sprints the
Page 29 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
gassers started that he started getting sick? Ballard
Yeah, it was like uh, he got sick like a little bit right before Max did, Max did like towards the end like in the middle of the end. Not like at the very end but it was somewhere in the middle closer to the middle of the end.
Alpiger
O.K. So when Calloway gets sick, it’s toward the middle. Max gets sick towards the end.
Ballard
Like right, a little bit after, like one or two after.
Alpiger
One or two minutes?
Ballard
No, one or two gassers.
Alpiger
One or two gassers after, okay. Anybody else get sick?
Ballard
Not that I know of.
Alpiger
Anybody uh, when I was in high school, when I was in grade school, we would do I guess it’s very similar, we did bloody guts, and we always did it till somebody puked.
Ballard
I don’t know if anyone puked.
Alpiger
Nobody puked. Um, did anybody feel like this practice was like they were being unfairly pushed too hard?
Ballard
Uh, un… I would not necessarily say that. I would say some of the players we… they knew it was like it was like the hardest practice we had.
Page 30 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
O.K.
Ballard
Because of all the running though. running that we done.
Alpiger
The extra gassers made it so much harder than the normal practice?
Ballard
Yeah, it’s not like so—so much harder but it— it was definitely probably the hardest one we’ve done.
Alpiger
Because?
Ballard
Because of the running, yes.
Alpiger
Does the extra gassers? Is there any other kind of running that you did besides… that they did besides the gassers? Any laps or anything like that that they do around the field?
Ballard
I take that back someone… if I… if a player’s late, he has to run a couple laps while we start. We start a session he runs the field because he’s late.
Alpiger
O.K. That happened?
Ballard
Uh, two players.
Alpiger
But Max wasn’t one of ‘em?
Ballard
No. He’s was on time.
Alpiger
So there’s no; you could do stretching, you do individual team work, then you do individual skills and then you go to conditioning. In conditioning is there anything besides gassers that you do in conditioning?
Extra
Page 31 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Ballard
Yeah, like before like during the summer months after we got gassers, we would do uh, we would have to do sit ups and, or not sit ups but crunches and bicycling.
Alpiger
Bicycling on your back with your legs?
Ballard
Uh-huh.
Alpiger
O.K.
Ballard
We had to like, when we were doing bicycling, we would, as one leg came back the opposite arm, like the opposite elbow had to touch your knee.
Alpiger
Did anybody walk off the team that day?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Because they thought it was just too much for ‘em?
Ballard
Yeah.
Alpiger
How many people did that?
Ballard
Uh, it’s not so much that we have people quit like in the middle of practice, but like we have players that didn’t come back. We had like a couple freshman didn’t come back and one JV player didn’t come back.
Alpiger
You had a couple freshmen, how many… do you know who they are?
Ballard
Uh, no uh, I couldn’t like tell you right off the top of my head.
Page 32 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
But nobody walked off the field and just I’m done with this, I can’t do it anymore?
Ballard
No.
Alpiger
They—they waited till after the practice, of course, this is the practice pretty much ended when Max went out… fell down, right? I mean that’s pretty much the end of the coach’s role.
Ballard
Coach is like hey, hey, hey. We got to stop this. Because Max, when he fell, he fell and then he got back up and he tried to keep running and then he fell over again and then we had to have a couple players help him off the field. And he got iced down and stuff like that. Whenever the coach had, not exactly sure.
Alpiger
Tell me about that thing? happened a few weeks ago?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
And in that few weeks that this has gone on, you’ve had to a football game.
Ballard
Yeah.
Alpiger
It was last Friday right?
Ballard
We had uh, games Mon… or yeah, our games Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week.
Alpiger
You had 3 games in one week?
Ballard
JV, freshman,Varsity, and then we had the JV
This is… this
Page 33 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
game Monday or yesterday. Alpiger
O.K. What’s the general consensus… what’s the general feeling of the football team and the coaches now since all this happened?
Ballard
The general feeling is we—we all feel like weird… like we got the tee shirts and on the front says ‘for Max,’ so basically I will sell out, which is basically saying for him were going to do our best, ‘cause that’s what he was doing. We’re gonna like see what he did and we want we want to win, we want to do everything we can for him and like at the funeral they played, like a song is called “12 men on the field”, and that’s how we feel like every time we step on that practice field. Coach—coach counts the players and I think the other day we had 103 and uh, coach said we got a 103 plus 1 because of Max.
Alpiger
O.K. Um, so he’s including Max in all— everything?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Everybody’s pretty much is—is kind of a motivator.
Ballard
It’s a motivation for the players definitely.
Alpiger
If you had… does your coach come up and have like meetings or whatever and have a little discussions, not—not so much discussions but maybe like a meeting and some pep talks or whatever and—and maybe his pep talks could be possibly construed to indicate that he’s maybe trying to influence what you’d be telling us. I’m not—not saying your coach
Page 34 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
but anybody trying to influence what you’re gonna say about that event. Ballard
All coach Stinson told us to do is to tell the truth. He said tell what we know and don’t make anything up, don’t try to defend him. He said just tell the truth and tell what we know.
Alpiger
O.K. But nobody else, none of the other coach, nobody else in school, nobody else says you know don’t, make sure you don’t tell ‘em about this. Make sure you say this happened. Nobody’s ever tried to do anything to influence what you’re gonna tell me?
Ballard
Not at all.
Alpiger
Is everything you told me the truth to the best of your knowledge?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. Before I started the tape recorder, we did discuss a little bit about uh, how you feel about the football team itself, about the coaches. Do you recall that conversation?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
What did you say? I want to put that on here too.
Ballard
I was talking about how the coach Stinson and all of our coaches are respectful men that our players should look up to because they’ve got their priorities right with their family and they go to church. They’ve got the power to say it with God and…
Page 35 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
You’re talking about your coaches?
Ballard
Yes sir. Right, our coaches.
Alpiger
They’re good Christian family.
Ballard
Family oriented people who would never intentionally want this to happen, and its affected a lot of our players because of what happened with Max. It affected a lot of our players like me personally, I didn’t go to church before this happened but because I didn’t really see the need but after this happened, I do. I’m starting to go to church and I’m starting to pray every night because I don’t take tomorrow for granted like I’d say why wait for tomorrow—tomorrow will be a better day. I try to make the best of the day it is because I’m not sure that I’ll be here tomorrow because of what happened to Max; like one day he was talking to everybody, cutting up and being himself, and like a couple hours later, like Max isn’t talking to us anymore, Max’s in the hospital. But I look on the coaches as very… really good people like they’re people you can talk to like they even reminded us, they remind us every day if you have problems, come talk to us, if you have your grades come talk to us. If you have a family help, come talk to us and coach Stinson, he talked… he told us a couple times like if y’all get in trouble, he says like if you get in trouble with the police or anything or like or something like that, he said he’ll come—he’ll come help us. Not saying that there’s not gonna be consequences behind it but he’ll come help us out if we ever need him to help us.
Page 36 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
So you’ve got a lot of respect and admiration for your coaches?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
And Coach Stinton in particular.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Uh, you feel like he loves his football team?
Ballard
Yes sir, coach Stinson loves his football team very much.
Alpiger
Do most of the students on the football team feel similar to how you feel you think?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Okay with the exception of the few that decided they weren’t cut out for it.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. Since this incident, okay let’s back up before this incident with Max. Has anybody had any issues with the coach or the coaching feeling like they’ve been pushed too hard, maybe quit.
Ballard
Yeah, some of our players have quit but that’s just it’s their personal choice because they didn’t want—they found out football is not the easy thing I thought it was. I can’t just breeze through it like I can anything else; footballs not for them so they quit.
Alpiger
But it’s not because they felt maybe they were pushed too hard, maybe they’d played football
Page 37 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
for other people and then this team, they… they I don’t know I’m just grasping, they don’t feel like they’re being pushed too hard or do you know? You don’t feel like you’re being pushed too hard? Ballard
No sir.
Alpiger
When you were dressing out and practicing, and do you feel like you’re being pushed too hard?
Ballard
No.
Alpiger
Okay is there any point that you felt like I shouldn’t be here. You said you broke your arm at camp?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
How’d that happen?
Ballard
Well, it was just that I got hit.
Alpiger
Uh, you took a hit at a practice at camp.
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Okay were your coaches there at camp with you?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Okay.
Ballard
The coach took me, Coach Steve, he took me to the uh, the medical person at Georgetown and he had my arm looked at. And I was, he made me keep ice on it and they gave me a
Page 38 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
sling until I came back to town so they could get me to my regular doctor. Alpiger
O.K. Is anybody else, you know I know football is… playing football people get hurt. Do you feel in your experience that anybody has been hurt needlessly?
Ballard
We’ve had injured players.
Alpiger
Every sport can have injured playes, yeah. I mean I understand that. It’s not something like the coaches… I guess what I’m getting at you’re not familiar with any incidents where the coaches are doing something uh, repetitively that’s gonna try to get somebody hurt?
Ballard
No. not at all.
Alpiger
Or trying to get somebody to quit or trying to get somebody sick or trying to… Is anything else that you can think of that you want to say about this incident?
Ballard
No sir, I think it’s kind of, it’s all been blown up… it’s—it’s all been blown up by the Media and everything that uh, it was a every day practice. I mean not every day, every day, because we did run a little bit more but I think everything’s been blown up way too much, and I think it’s ridiculous how the Media even came to the funeral and started to get pictures of the family and everything and nobody wanted them there and the family didn’t want them there, and the players didn’t want them there. It wasn’t like I think people need to show more respect to what has happened to us. In a sense they uh, we lost a lot and like the
Page 39 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
players knew we lost one of our own and Once a teammate and always (inaudible). Alpiger
O.K. Anything else?
Ballard
No
Alpiger
All right, I appreciate your time and I know I’ve taken quite a bit of it. To end this interview the time now is gonna be 1044. Thanks, Matt.
END OF STATEMENT File #08-197alpiger-ie
This is Detective Dan Alpiger with the Louisville Metro Homicide Unit. Today’s date is September the 09th of 2008. The current time is 10:00 o’clock. I’m here in my car with Matthew James Ballard in the PRP High School parking lot in reference to Case File 08-197. Mr. Ballard, are you aware the tape recorder is on recording our conversation?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
And you’re okay with that?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Okay for the record please state your name and spell it for me?
Ballard
Uh, Matthew Ballard. M-a-t-t-h-e-w B-a-l-l-a-r-d.
Alpiger
And your date of birth, Matthew?
Ballard Alpiger
O.K. And your address and phone number?
Ballard
x My phone number is
Page 2 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
O.K. And we’re here in relation to an incident that happened a couple of weeks ago. Are you familiar with that incident?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. Just uh, before we start with that, let me —give me an idea… are you in—what grade are you in?
Ballard
9th.
Alpiger
Okay you’re a freshman here; this is your first year?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
At PRP?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
And you are on the football team?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
On the freshman football team?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
What position you play?
Ballard
Quarterback.
Alpiger
O.K. And do you know uh, Max?
Ballard
I know him, yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. And you know why we’re here?
Page 3 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
In relation to an incident that happened with Max a couple weeks ago. Is that correct?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Okay how do you know Max?
Ballard
I know Max from the locker room and from just playing because he’s a very good player. I know, like, because coaches talk about him and stuff. Like when a player that does a good job, they tell him. Max does a good job almost all the time. He’s really good.
Alpiger
O.K. If you don’t mind try to speak up a little bit okay.
Ballard
O.K.
Alpiger
I’m gonna move this just a little bit closer to you, hopefully it’ll help. Uh, you said you also went to camp with Max?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Football camp?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
When was that?
Ballard
Uh, the beginning of August, it was like the 3rd or the 4th.
Alpiger
O.K.
Page 4 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Ballard
2 or 3 days.
Alpiger
O.K. And you said he was in a room besides yours or next to yours?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. Did you have an opportunity to talk to him at those times?
Ballard
I used… because I broke my arm when I was at camp and like I got on the way back to practice and stuff, I would talk to him just about like how practice went and stuff, and he would like try to encourage me to keep like with the football team because of my injury and he wanted me to keep going because he said I was a good player.
Alpiger
O.K. Do you recall what day this incident happened that we’re looking into right now?
Ballard
A couple weeks ago on a Thursday. I know it was Thursday.
Alpiger
You’re sure it was Thursday?
Ballard
I’m pretty sure.
Alpiger
O.K and you recall it was Thursday, it was on uh, it was in August?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Okay do you remember what day it was in August?
Ballard
No sir. I don’t remember the exact date..
Page 5 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
You went to—you went to camp in August; 3rd and 4th?
Ballard
Around then. Yes sir.
Alpiger
Around then, okay, how many days or weeks aft… week after camp was this incident?
Ballard
Uh, it was around a week, a week or two after school started so when school started the middle of August like the 16th, (inaudible) it was a couple weeks after.
Alpiger
Okay a week or two after school started; school started on August the 16th? O.K.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Um, up until that point that Thursday, two weeks after school started were you practicing with the team?
Ballard
I was…
Alpiger
Was the team having regular daily practices?
Ballard
Yes, the team was having practices but I couldn’t practice because of my arm. The doctor wouldn’t let me.
Alpiger
O.K. I understand that but the team was having practices. When did the team—when did this practicing for the season start with the team?
Ballard
The practicing for the season started in the middle of July.
Alpiger
Okay so some point during you guys practice
Page 6 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
for a few weeks in July. Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Although you were probably a part of that because you hadn’t broke your arm yet.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. Went to camp.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Where was that?
Ballard
It was at Georgetown College.
Alpiger
O.K. Uh, went to camp for a couple of days?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
And you came back and you started practice again?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. And about how long after you get back from camp—you say it’s about 2 more weeks that you camp; well, it was about 3 or 4 weeks after that because you got back about the 4th and 5th.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
So and school started on the 16th?
Ballard
I believe so.
Alpiger
So it’s gonna be 3 or 4 weeks after you get
Page 7 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
back from camp? Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
And during this off season in July, how often were your practices?
Ballard
During July, um they’re 4 days a week, every week, 4 and 5 days.
Alpiger
And how long?
Ballard
Um, from 8:30 we’re supposed to get in the locker room at 8:00. We started practice about 8:30 and we were done around 11:30—12:00.
Alpiger
O.K. And then once school started, of course, that’s changed?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. How was it changed after school started?
Ballard
After school started the varsity would go lift weights right after school and the freshmen would have to go to study hall until 3:10 and then we all got together to practiced with the team.
Alpiger
Outside?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. They started at, well, I’m sorry, what time 3:15?
Ballard
3:10 was when the freshmen got out of study hall and about 5—10 minutes later the varsity got out of lifting weights.
Page 8 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
O.K. And they meet… what time did school get out?
Ballard
School gets out at 2:20.
Alpiger
Okay so you’re—you’re just, I guess, just under an hour of study hall?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
At that point the varsity teams uh, doing weight training?
Ballard
Yes, sophomores and up does weight training.
Alpiger
O.K. Typically after study hall what does your practice consist of?
Ballard
Our practice consists of we go and we go out to the practice field, we stretch for about 10— 15 minutes probably we stretch and then after we stretch we do the what coach calls team take off, where the offense runs like against no defense and the defense runs against, well, we don’t… they don’t have offense. It’s pretty much like it’s uh, it’s where the coach wants us to get a slight, get familiar with the offensive plays and defensive plays, and familiar with the players around us and how fast they are or/and how like how we’re gonna have to move if we’re in a game and then the coach gives us a water break and then we go back out and we do our individual, we have our individual times, where receivers and quarterbacks work together and the linemen work together and the running backs they do their thing and then after that is another water break. And then we do either full scrimmage
Page 9 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
like varsity scrimmage varsity, JV on JV, freshmen on freshmen or we do 7 on 7 in the same like… thing where the varsity scrimmage, does each other and then JV and the freshmen do the freshmen. Alpiger
O.K.
Ballard
And then…
Alpiger
Go ahead I’m sorry.
Ballard
O.K. And then coach gives us water again and then we run. Then we do our conditioning. That’s practice normally.
Alpiger
O.K. Explain conditioning?
Ballard
Conditioning usually consists of 6 to 8 gassers —a gassers where we got to run; like if the… we run like the width of the field; we run the width of the field down and back; down and back, is one gasser, and we do it usually about 6 to 7 times.
Alpiger
This is on a daily basis?
Ballard
Uh…
Alpiger
This is a typical practice?
Ballard
Before the game starts, yes.
Alpiger
O.K. Do the gasser, what you’re calling a gasser, you’re running the width of the practice field?
Ballard
Which is I think 50 yards.
Page 10 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
O.K. Approximately 50 yards, you run it 4 times?
Ballard
Yes. We run down, we touch the line, we come back, touch the line, go back, touch the line, and come back.
Alpiger
O.K.
Ballard
And then, like, we split it up, like the varsity and JV, like bigger guys like linemen, they run it. And then the varsity, JV, uh like running backs and stuff, they run it. And then the freshmen like linemen and stuff, they run it and then the freshmen backs and receivers, they run it. Because like, we split it up so like you have more break in-between each one that we’re running.
Alpiger
O.K. So they’re not all running it at the same time, you’ll have a group… how many?
Ballard
We have our group of probably about 20—30, somewhere around there.
Alpiger
20 or 30 running the gasser at one time, so while they’re running everybody else is waiting their turn?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
O.K. When they get back, somebody—another group of 20 or 30 goes?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
How many groups do we have?
Ballard
We have four groups.
Page 11 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
Four, so if you’re—if you’re not actually running, you have 3 groups of people ahead of you before your turn comes?
Ballard
Yes, we just—we stand there and we catch our breath so.
Alpiger
O.K. And that’s a typical practice?
Ballard
Yes, that was a typical practice before our games and everything; before like the actual season started.
Alpiger
Has it… has it changed since the season started?
Ballard
Yes sir. Like Mondays, I don’t know, like Mondays, like the varsity would stuff like, video, Like JV has a game on Mondays, so the freshmen, we get out early unless you’re playing JV; the freshmen we get out early and it’s usually like a walk through practice. It’s like no—no equipment except a helmet and cleats and a practice jersey, is all we do Monday… on Mondays, and then Tuesdays is like our full practice, full go; everybody because no one has a game or anything and then Wednesdays, I’m speaking from the freshmen because I don’t know exactly what the JV and varsity do. Like on Wednesdays uh, it’s, for freshmen, it’s an easy day normally or it’s an easier day. Because we have a game on Thursday, it’s like our pre-day practice getting ready for the game. Then Thursdays, we have our games, and Friday we have off.
Alpiger
O.K. You don’t practice at all on Fridays?
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Ballard
No. The Varsity has their Friday night games.
Alpiger
O.K. I wasn’t thinking of that. For some reason I thought they were on weekends but I knew that they’re not. Um, going back to the day that this incident with Max, you said you thought it was a Thursday.
Ballard
I believe so, yes sir.
Alpiger
A couple weeks after school started.
Ballard
Yeah.
Alpiger
So, it’s actually about 2, 3 weeks ago?
Ballard
Yes. Something around there.
Alpiger
O.K. Tell me about the practice that day?
Ballard
That day at practice everybody was like, they weren’t doing anything…
Alpiger
Start off from…?
Ballard
O.K.
Alpiger
Did you have study hall that day?
Ballard
Uh, yes sir. Had study hall.
Alpiger
O.K. Start with the best you can do with the times that you can tell?
Ballard
We had study hall and then we did our… we started our normal every day practice with we do stretching, the team take-offs, the individuals and everything but instead that day everybody decided that they wanted to walk
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around instead of like hustling and like we normally do because coaches like his main thing is uh, sell out, which pretty much means do your best you can every time, don’t like slack off one time thinking oh, I’ll get it next time because you might not, you might not get your opportunity like when you get opportunities, sell out, do—do what you can to make the best of it and I was like that’s our whole thing, that and our pride and integrity whatever. And nobody like nobody was selling out that day except Max and he was the coach made us run or made the team… I couldn’t practice of course, still. But the coach made the team run because no… like nobody was giving it their all, no one was doing their best so I guess coach figured that, hey they got energy to do… build up the energy, they’re just gonna walk around so they must have the energy to run because didn’t have—didn’t do anything in practice, really. Then before he like, “everybody get a water break because we’re about to… we’re gonna run”. Alpiger
Okay tell me so what you’re saying is people— the team’s kind of sluggish?
Ballard
Yes. The team was sluggish, kinda slacking off.
Alpiger
Not hustling like the coach would’ve wanted them to. You said everybody was kind of sluggish except for Max?
Ballard
Yeah, Max and a couple other players.
Alpiger
O.K. Um, you didn’t dress out?
Ballard
No, I… I just started practicing like this week.
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Alpiger
But you were there?
Ballard
Yes, I was watching…because we have like bleachers, a matter of fact like a little set of bleachers under a tree in our back field that’s where the injured players would sit. And like, sometimes we have help out the coaches and stuff.
Alpiger
Okay so you—you weren’t a part of the run or you weren’t a part of the…
Ballard
No, but I saw ,like, what was going on.
Alpiger
O.K. You had your study hall and you get out of the study hall about 3:10.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. From that point you go to the uh, the freshmen go to the locker, they dress out, go out to the field.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
You do your stretching?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
And this is—and this is that day that Max fell out.
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
You do your stretching?
Ballard
Yes sir.
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Alpiger
You do uh…
Ballard
The team-take off.
Alpiger
The team-take off, that’s where you guys split up and go in the different groups?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Offense… with offense, defense and all of that; the defense freshmen uh, varsity and junior varsity?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Kind of split up and do individual skills?
Ballard
Yeah, like the—the varsity gets a play and then the JV will get a play and then the freshmen will get a play and then we keep rotating,10 times, I think.
Alpiger
O.K. After that you get the impression the coach is a little bit ticked off that people seeming to be a little sluggish?
Ballard
Yes, because, people they’re like, after, like because they’re supposed to sprint out like after you run your plays, like, not only the running backs have to run but the linemen they get up and they sprint to like 10 yards, I think it was, 10 yards you gotta sprint through the 10 yards. ‘Cause, that’s what coach, like, he wants us to sprint out… he wants us sprint through it and it’s not like just walking around and everything. And that day people just kind of walked in and he wants you to walk around.
Alpiger
O.K. You said something about he told—he
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gave everybody a water break and said something like you need to get back here because we’re gonna start running because… how did that all turn about; give me, give me that scenario again? Ballard
Uh, like, people after our individual period where you break off into like, positions, people were still just kind of sluggish and walking and everything and coach, he was saying, he was telling us like, even before that practice specifically I remember him telling us, you guys this week you gotta sell out, you gotta sell out for your teammates, sell out for each other and we’re gonna win this game because we easily got enough talent to do it. It’s just a matter if you guys want to hustle a lot. So and uh, nobody was doing it except for a couple players. And Max was one of those players that always did it no matter what.
Alpiger
Who were some of the other players that on this particular day that were given—that were hustling like… like the coach would’ve expected?
Ballard
Uh, Logan, Logan Ratterman he always does. Um, Corey Avery he always does. Sam uh, I just know him by Sam, he’s a varsity linebacker. Uh, Sam always does. The other Sam, the tight end, he always does. David Cowan always does. Just the players that they, like the coach expects them, he expects everybody to do it but he if he doesn’t see the others, because they’re the leaders of our team like they always, they’re the players that always do.
Alpiger
So these few names that you mentioned they’re
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typically the leaders? Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
O.K. On this Thursday a couple weeks ago, everybody goes takes a water break. The coach says go take a break because when we get back we’re gonna start running?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Something…
Ballard
Because you’re not running at practice, you’re not running through our drills, we’re gonna run.
Alpiger
But at the same time you’re saying that this is something that he does almost every practice anyway?
Ballard
Yes. But it was um… he like stopped like that’s (inaudible). We like, we were doing our 7 on 7s I believe in a way and everybody was kind of sluggish walked around and everything so he was like okay, we’re just gonna stop this and we’re gonna start running.
Alpiger
O.K. So this is something that he changed?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
For this practice?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Uh, he was upset with the way practice was going?
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Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
And decided get a break, come back, we’re gonna start running.
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Um, and the running that you’re talking about, that’s what you were calling…
Ballard
The gassers.
Alpiger
The gassers. He had everybody do that.
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
You aren’t a part of all that because you’re sitting on the sidelines?
Ballard
Yeah, I’m sitting watching what happens.
Alpiger
How long did the gassers last?
Ballard
About 30-45 minutes probably.
Alpiger
Okay and how long do they normally last?
Ballard
About 20 or 30.
Alpiger
So we’re talking a few more minutes?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Than normal?
Ballard
A few more minutes running.
Alpiger
And is that because he stopped?
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Ballard
It’s because he stopped it early.
Alpiger
Stopped the other course of practice early to get this… these gassers going because he needs to get people hustling.
Ballard
(Inaudible) hustling, yes.
Alpiger
OK. When the coach gives water breaks or does everybody go at the same time?
Ballard
Normally.
Alpiger
Normally. Is there circumstances when he— when everybody doesn’t go at the same time?
Ballard
It—it’s usually like because we have, like, and uh, coach would be like certain groups of people like the running backs, they get water and when they come back, like the linemen will get water. Like we alternate… like we don’t all hundred and something players go at one time, like we have like a group of players go, and then when they come back, other group of players go.
Alpiger
But he doesn’t say Matt, you’re doing a good job, go get a drink of water?
Ballard
No.
Alpiger
It’s either a group of people or nobody usually?
Ballard
Yes. I mean we usually get water at the same times everyday, so we know when we get a water break.
Alpiger
Okay, actually what you were telling me before was between courses of practice?
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Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
After uh?
Ballard
After everybody…
Alpiger
After you break off, do that course of practice, then you go get… then he sends that team to get a drink of water and a break—take a break. Did you, were you there at the water fountain when people were getting their drinks on this day?
Ballard
Yes, That was when, like; I go out and I do some stuff like, if we’re, like, learning new plays, I think we learned some new plays that day or something; and I went out there, I mean, to see what was going on because I have to like, know the plays when I come back, when I was gonna come back. But it sounds like okay and then he tells us to all get water so I went over there to get a little drink, but I usually wait for all the other players to get their drink because I don’t, I’m just sitting there I don’t really need it as much as they do so I was like okay, I got my drink. I got like that.
Alpiger
Okay how many water breaks did—did they take on this day, on this Thursday that you can recall?
Ballard
3 or 4.
Alpiger
3 or 4?
Ballard
And then we can get drinks easy like because we, the players we—we turn the faucets on that we have like there’s like a big troth, like
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sprayer thing and like water shoots out the holes in it like there’s a lever that pulls up like they all come on at once, so we can get water before and after practice. Like before practice we want a drink some water, and then we have like bottles of water and stuff in the locker room. Alpiger
Uh-huh. O.K. Okay so they on this date, there was 3 or 4 water breaks given; right?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
You’re saying that they have water accessible in the locker room?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
In bottled form and any time one of the kids wanted to before the practice started, they could go to this water fountain that’s in the field and turn it on and get a drink or cool off?
Ballard
(?).
Alpiger
It was my understanding that Max fell out during the gassers?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. Prior to beginning the gassers everybody had a break.
Ballard
Everybody got a break.
Alpiger
O.K.
Ballard
Coach makes you get a break like some players; they just want to stand around while
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they’re getting water. Coach makes them, like, you know, you need, you’re gonna need it, go get it. Alpiger
O.K.
Ballard
He’s told me that before, cause I’m like, no, I’m not thirsty, go get water.
Alpiger
So if, if he gives you a break and you’re not going to get a drink of water, he makes sure that you do go get the drink?
Ballard
Yes. He tells you go get some water.
Alpiger
When that’s typical of the coach?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Did… and okay, going back to the last water break that the team took as a team.
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
That’s when the gassers began?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Right? Any other kind of practicing, the whole team was doing this?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
O.K. And that’s when you explained to me that you have 4 groups of people running at a time; you run 50 yards, touch the line, touch the end of the line and come back 50 yards, touch the line again, go back 50 yards touch the line, and come back another 50 yards and
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then that’s done for that sprint. Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
That particular… you get back in the end of the line and another groups goes?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
So while you run 200 yards while you’re running, while you’re waiting, three other groups of people run 200 yards, they do the same thing that you just did?
Ballard
(Inaudible).
Alpiger
Not that you just did but the person that…
Ballard
No, while I’m waiting, there’s about 3 groups waiting (inaudible).
Alpiger
O.K. So how many of these gassers do you think this team—that the team did?
Ballard
15 or 20 probably. I heard from some of the players they said they ran 20 but it’s probably, closer to 15. It takes—it takes like a while to, 4 groups of people to run a bunch of times
Alpiger
Again, uh, you didn’t run any of these?
Ballard
No. I started to run, but I didn’t, because I felt that like a couple days ago, I tried to run with the team whatever and the coach told me it’s like a doctor’s note, you can’t run because the doctor hasn’t cleared you and if something happens then it’s my fault then. You’re just not gonna run.
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Alpiger
O.K. But on this day you didn’t run either?
Ballard
No. I didn’t run either day.
Alpiger
But you were sitting as a… on the near the bleacher under the tree watching pretty much the whole thing?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
And you’re thinking that each group of kids that ran the gassers did about 15 to 20 of ‘em; you’re thinking closer to 15.
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Did that and again you told me how many minutes you think this was that the gassers were?
Ballard
Probably about around 30—40 something like that.
Alpiger
Since the time you got done with the water break to…
Ballard
Well it started at 6:00—6:30 maybe 6:20— 6:30. No, no. No, no. I’m confused.
Alpiger
What time is practice usually over?
Ballard
Practice is usually over at 6:30, so we probably started about 5:20… 5:30, somewhere around in there.
Alpiger
O.K. And so that’s 5:20 to 5:30, 30—40 minutes.
Ballard
Yes.
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Alpiger
And then that’s a few more minutes than what you normally would have done?
Ballard
We normally run about 20 maybe 30.
Alpiger
O.K. Uh, at any point… it’s my understanding that at some point on this particular day, how were the guys dressed when they were running the gassers?
Ballard
Uh, it started out, full equipment but then like as the gassers got on Coach let us take our jerseys and pads off and helmets. First, it started that they can take their helmets off, and then as they started running more—more, they let them take their shoulder pads and stuff off… their shoulder pads.
Alpiger
O.K. Did anybody treatment on that? Did coach say you’re doing you’re doing good, sit that?
Ballard
Yes. He did it to several of the players.
Alpiger
O.K.
Ballard
It was like I don’t even know why but some of the players got to get done early, he says okay, go get a drink and come back.
Alpiger
So he stopped some of the players and told ‘em to go get a drink and come back.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. Do you know who those were?
get any preferable anybody say; did the good, sit down. That down, anything like
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Ballard
No sir.
Alpiger
How many of those kids you think that happened to?
Ballard
Uh… at one point like most of the team was done and so the players who were just kinda like even just walking on the gassers then we were kinda jogging (?) by walking around. They were still running (inaudible).
Alpiger
I’m sorry, back up again.
Ballard
O.K. Coach, let, like, lets the players go and then like most of the players were finished running, then some of the players that were just kind of walking around and everything, they’re just even walking like in the gassers that we were running, the coach made them keep running because they still weren’t doing what he wanted to do.
Alpiger
They weren’t hustling enough.
Ballard
No sir.
Alpiger
O.K. Where was Max in that?
Ballard
Max was… he was he started, he was hustling that was the thing he was hustling and everything but I… I believe he was still running.
Alpiger
O.K. So he wasn’t one that was singled out saying you can stop?
Ballard
Right, Coach was like, it wasn’t exactly singled out like after one, like after a gasser he
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would like take 2… 2 or 3 players and let ‘em go. Alpiger
Let ‘em go get a drink, then come back and start running again?
Ballard
While they were standing and waiting.
Alpiger
They were done?
Ballard
Yeah.
Alpiger
O.K. If he singled you out and said go get a drink, come back, uh then you were actually done for that?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Until everybody got done.
Ballard
Right. It was uh…
Alpiger
Did anybody and while running the gassers feel like they needed to go get a drink without permission like I gotta… I’m not feeling good, I gotta go get a drink or something, cool off.
Ballard
Oh, none of the players did that, but some like, I think it was Ralph, he went over and like, ‘cause the shade tree, it blocks, like some of the field, like along the edge, and like he went he stood there, uh, Coach Deacon, he’s like what are you doing? He’s like I’m standing here for shade, he says no you do, you’re one of our newer players you guys haven’t been out here since uh, July—April, lifting weights and working out with the team, you’re one of our new players, you don’t—you can’t get special privileges, you gotta stand in the sun like
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everybody else. Alpiger
So the guy named Ralph tried to get some shade and—and Deacon…
Ballard
Told him to come back.
Alpiger
Come back and stand with the rest of the team?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
But then nobody asked for water; nobody asked for a break or anything?
Ballard
Not that I remember.
Alpiger
Did uh, did anybody else become sick or ill?
Ballard
Um…
Alpiger
Or any other circumstances?
Ballard
I think Calloway, he was like, breathing real heavy, they had to take him under the tree and let him sit down for a minute, catch his breath. Coach let him like, hey stop, go over there.
Alpiger
So when he started having some kind of uh, respiratory problems, did the coach let him stop?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Catch his breath, cool off? did he come back in?
Ballard
No.
Alpiger
Okay how long—how long after the sprints the
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gassers started that he started getting sick? Ballard
Yeah, it was like uh, he got sick like a little bit right before Max did, Max did like towards the end like in the middle of the end. Not like at the very end but it was somewhere in the middle closer to the middle of the end.
Alpiger
O.K. So when Calloway gets sick, it’s toward the middle. Max gets sick towards the end.
Ballard
Like right, a little bit after, like one or two after.
Alpiger
One or two minutes?
Ballard
No, one or two gassers.
Alpiger
One or two gassers after, okay. Anybody else get sick?
Ballard
Not that I know of.
Alpiger
Anybody uh, when I was in high school, when I was in grade school, we would do I guess it’s very similar, we did bloody guts, and we always did it till somebody puked.
Ballard
I don’t know if anyone puked.
Alpiger
Nobody puked. Um, did anybody feel like this practice was like they were being unfairly pushed too hard?
Ballard
Uh, un… I would not necessarily say that. I would say some of the players we… they knew it was like it was like the hardest practice we had.
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Alpiger
O.K.
Ballard
Because of all the running though. running that we done.
Alpiger
The extra gassers made it so much harder than the normal practice?
Ballard
Yeah, it’s not like so—so much harder but it— it was definitely probably the hardest one we’ve done.
Alpiger
Because?
Ballard
Because of the running, yes.
Alpiger
Does the extra gassers? Is there any other kind of running that you did besides… that they did besides the gassers? Any laps or anything like that that they do around the field?
Ballard
I take that back someone… if I… if a player’s late, he has to run a couple laps while we start. We start a session he runs the field because he’s late.
Alpiger
O.K. That happened?
Ballard
Uh, two players.
Alpiger
But Max wasn’t one of ‘em?
Ballard
No. He’s was on time.
Alpiger
So there’s no; you could do stretching, you do individual team work, then you do individual skills and then you go to conditioning. In conditioning is there anything besides gassers that you do in conditioning?
Extra
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Ballard
Yeah, like before like during the summer months after we got gassers, we would do uh, we would have to do sit ups and, or not sit ups but crunches and bicycling.
Alpiger
Bicycling on your back with your legs?
Ballard
Uh-huh.
Alpiger
O.K.
Ballard
We had to like, when we were doing bicycling, we would, as one leg came back the opposite arm, like the opposite elbow had to touch your knee.
Alpiger
Did anybody walk off the team that day?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Because they thought it was just too much for ‘em?
Ballard
Yeah.
Alpiger
How many people did that?
Ballard
Uh, it’s not so much that we have people quit like in the middle of practice, but like we have players that didn’t come back. We had like a couple freshman didn’t come back and one JV player didn’t come back.
Alpiger
You had a couple freshmen, how many… do you know who they are?
Ballard
Uh, no uh, I couldn’t like tell you right off the top of my head.
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Alpiger
But nobody walked off the field and just I’m done with this, I can’t do it anymore?
Ballard
No.
Alpiger
They—they waited till after the practice, of course, this is the practice pretty much ended when Max went out… fell down, right? I mean that’s pretty much the end of the coach’s role.
Ballard
Coach is like hey, hey, hey. We got to stop this. Because Max, when he fell, he fell and then he got back up and he tried to keep running and then he fell over again and then we had to have a couple players help him off the field. And he got iced down and stuff like that. Whenever the coach had, not exactly sure.
Alpiger
Tell me about that thing? happened a few weeks ago?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
And in that few weeks that this has gone on, you’ve had to a football game.
Ballard
Yeah.
Alpiger
It was last Friday right?
Ballard
We had uh, games Mon… or yeah, our games Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week.
Alpiger
You had 3 games in one week?
Ballard
JV, freshman,Varsity, and then we had the JV
This is… this
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game Monday or yesterday. Alpiger
O.K. What’s the general consensus… what’s the general feeling of the football team and the coaches now since all this happened?
Ballard
The general feeling is we—we all feel like weird… like we got the tee shirts and on the front says ‘for Max,’ so basically I will sell out, which is basically saying for him were going to do our best, ‘cause that’s what he was doing. We’re gonna like see what he did and we want we want to win, we want to do everything we can for him and like at the funeral they played, like a song is called “12 men on the field”, and that’s how we feel like every time we step on that practice field. Coach—coach counts the players and I think the other day we had 103 and uh, coach said we got a 103 plus 1 because of Max.
Alpiger
O.K. Um, so he’s including Max in all— everything?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Everybody’s pretty much is—is kind of a motivator.
Ballard
It’s a motivation for the players definitely.
Alpiger
If you had… does your coach come up and have like meetings or whatever and have a little discussions, not—not so much discussions but maybe like a meeting and some pep talks or whatever and—and maybe his pep talks could be possibly construed to indicate that he’s maybe trying to influence what you’d be telling us. I’m not—not saying your coach
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but anybody trying to influence what you’re gonna say about that event. Ballard
All coach Stinson told us to do is to tell the truth. He said tell what we know and don’t make anything up, don’t try to defend him. He said just tell the truth and tell what we know.
Alpiger
O.K. But nobody else, none of the other coach, nobody else in school, nobody else says you know don’t, make sure you don’t tell ‘em about this. Make sure you say this happened. Nobody’s ever tried to do anything to influence what you’re gonna tell me?
Ballard
Not at all.
Alpiger
Is everything you told me the truth to the best of your knowledge?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. Before I started the tape recorder, we did discuss a little bit about uh, how you feel about the football team itself, about the coaches. Do you recall that conversation?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
What did you say? I want to put that on here too.
Ballard
I was talking about how the coach Stinson and all of our coaches are respectful men that our players should look up to because they’ve got their priorities right with their family and they go to church. They’ve got the power to say it with God and…
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Alpiger
You’re talking about your coaches?
Ballard
Yes sir. Right, our coaches.
Alpiger
They’re good Christian family.
Ballard
Family oriented people who would never intentionally want this to happen, and its affected a lot of our players because of what happened with Max. It affected a lot of our players like me personally, I didn’t go to church before this happened but because I didn’t really see the need but after this happened, I do. I’m starting to go to church and I’m starting to pray every night because I don’t take tomorrow for granted like I’d say why wait for tomorrow—tomorrow will be a better day. I try to make the best of the day it is because I’m not sure that I’ll be here tomorrow because of what happened to Max; like one day he was talking to everybody, cutting up and being himself, and like a couple hours later, like Max isn’t talking to us anymore, Max’s in the hospital. But I look on the coaches as very… really good people like they’re people you can talk to like they even reminded us, they remind us every day if you have problems, come talk to us, if you have your grades come talk to us. If you have a family help, come talk to us and coach Stinson, he talked… he told us a couple times like if y’all get in trouble, he says like if you get in trouble with the police or anything or like or something like that, he said he’ll come—he’ll come help us. Not saying that there’s not gonna be consequences behind it but he’ll come help us out if we ever need him to help us.
Page 36 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
Alpiger
So you’ve got a lot of respect and admiration for your coaches?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
And Coach Stinton in particular.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Uh, you feel like he loves his football team?
Ballard
Yes sir, coach Stinson loves his football team very much.
Alpiger
Do most of the students on the football team feel similar to how you feel you think?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
Okay with the exception of the few that decided they weren’t cut out for it.
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
O.K. Since this incident, okay let’s back up before this incident with Max. Has anybody had any issues with the coach or the coaching feeling like they’ve been pushed too hard, maybe quit.
Ballard
Yeah, some of our players have quit but that’s just it’s their personal choice because they didn’t want—they found out football is not the easy thing I thought it was. I can’t just breeze through it like I can anything else; footballs not for them so they quit.
Alpiger
But it’s not because they felt maybe they were pushed too hard, maybe they’d played football
Page 37 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
for other people and then this team, they… they I don’t know I’m just grasping, they don’t feel like they’re being pushed too hard or do you know? You don’t feel like you’re being pushed too hard? Ballard
No sir.
Alpiger
When you were dressing out and practicing, and do you feel like you’re being pushed too hard?
Ballard
No.
Alpiger
Okay is there any point that you felt like I shouldn’t be here. You said you broke your arm at camp?
Ballard
Yes sir.
Alpiger
How’d that happen?
Ballard
Well, it was just that I got hit.
Alpiger
Uh, you took a hit at a practice at camp.
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Okay were your coaches there at camp with you?
Ballard
Yes.
Alpiger
Okay.
Ballard
The coach took me, Coach Steve, he took me to the uh, the medical person at Georgetown and he had my arm looked at. And I was, he made me keep ice on it and they gave me a
Page 38 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
sling until I came back to town so they could get me to my regular doctor. Alpiger
O.K. Is anybody else, you know I know football is… playing football people get hurt. Do you feel in your experience that anybody has been hurt needlessly?
Ballard
We’ve had injured players.
Alpiger
Every sport can have injured playes, yeah. I mean I understand that. It’s not something like the coaches… I guess what I’m getting at you’re not familiar with any incidents where the coaches are doing something uh, repetitively that’s gonna try to get somebody hurt?
Ballard
No. not at all.
Alpiger
Or trying to get somebody to quit or trying to get somebody sick or trying to… Is anything else that you can think of that you want to say about this incident?
Ballard
No sir, I think it’s kind of, it’s all been blown up… it’s—it’s all been blown up by the Media and everything that uh, it was a every day practice. I mean not every day, every day, because we did run a little bit more but I think everything’s been blown up way too much, and I think it’s ridiculous how the Media even came to the funeral and started to get pictures of the family and everything and nobody wanted them there and the family didn’t want them there, and the players didn’t want them there. It wasn’t like I think people need to show more respect to what has happened to us. In a sense they uh, we lost a lot and like the
Page 39 of 39 Statement: Matthew James Ballard / 08-197 Date: September 09, 2008
players knew we lost one of our own and Once a teammate and always (inaudible). Alpiger
O.K. Anything else?
Ballard
No
Alpiger
All right, I appreciate your time and I know I’ve taken quite a bit of it. To end this interview the time now is gonna be 1044. Thanks, Matt.
END OF STATEMENT File #08-197alpiger-ie
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