Injury talk may soon be violation of federal law

LITTLE ROCK - This season, some football coaches will refrain from talking about their players&#39; injuries in a strategic move. Next season, speaking about the injuries could be against the law. <br> <br> The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, passed in 1996, goes into effect next April and could affect how much coaches know about players&#39; injuries and whether the university can report those injuries to the media. <br> <br> Alabama coach Dennis Franchione knows of the law but has already adopted the policy. It&#39;s why few outside the Crimson Tide trainer&#39;s office knows for sure whether quarterback Tyler Watts will play Saturday against Arkansas. <br> <br> Watts sprained his left foot early in the Tide&#39;s victory over Southern Mississippi last week and didn&#39;t play the rest of the game. <br> <br> ``I don&#39;t see the advantage in exposing our players&#39; every little bump and bruise to everybody,&#39;&#39; Franchione said Wednesday during an SEC coaches&#39; teleconference. ``There&#39;s nothing to be gained by it. I think it offers a little bit of protection to them as we go through the season.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Under the act, which was signed by President Clinton, institutions could lose federal funding for disclosing an athlete&#39;s medical information. <br> <br> Arkansas sports information director Kevin Trainor said he and his SEC counterparts started discussing the law and its ramifications during their spring meetings. No formal guidelines for the conference were adopted then, so the discussion of injuries is left up to each university this season. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s my understanding from talk going around that the health insurance act may change the landscape on that a little bit,&#39;&#39; Trainor said. ``We&#39;re just going to wait to see what comes out of it.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The act was designed to protect individual&#39;s insurance coverage by keeping their health history private when they changed jobs. Its effect on college athletics is an unintended consequence. <br> <br> Charles Bloom, the SEC&#39;s associate commissioner for media relations, said the conference still is trying to figure out if the law will apply to college athletics. <br> <br> ``Right now there&#39;s so much haziness as to how it would pertain to us,&#39;&#39; Bloom said. ``It wasn&#39;t meant to affect college sports. We&#39;ll wait and see and if it doesn&#39;t affect us, then all the colleges will go back to what they&#39;ve been doing in the past.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Some colleges aren&#39;t waiting for the law, Franchione&#39;s policy aside. Texas won&#39;t report on the status of its No. 1 receiver Roy Williams, who appeared to injure his hamstring last week against North Carolina. The university won&#39;t discuss his injury and it won&#39;t make Williams available to talk about it. <br> <br> In Florida&#39;s win over Tennessee last week, the Gators wouldn&#39;t provide injury information about running back Earnest Graham or quarterback Rex Grossman to CBS&#39; television crew. <br> <br> Bloom said he doesn&#39;t have a timetable for when the conference will know if the law applies to college athletics, but the law goes into effect on April 14, 2003, so time is running out. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s really out of our hands,&#39;&#39; he said. ``If the federal law says we can&#39;t report injuries, then that&#39;s what we&#39;ll do. Since it&#39;s a federal law, we&#39;ll just take our orders.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Arkansas coach Houston Nutt doesn&#39;t share Franchione&#39;s belief one way or the other. The Razorbacks provide information about injuries following games and practices if someone gets hurt. <br> <br> Watts didn&#39;t practice on Tuesday, but Nutt said he expects to see the senior quarterback play when the teams meet at Saturday in Fayetteville. <br> <br> He said the Razorbacks will be prepared for Watts or redshirt freshman Brodie Croyle, who finished Alabama&#39;s victory last week. <br> <br> ``We go by what we see on film,&#39;&#39; Nutt said. ``That&#39;s the way we prepare and that&#39;s what we expect to see. I don&#39;t see (withholding injury information) as an advantage one way or the other.&#39;&#39;