Ferris Freshman Made Impression In Short Time With Team

At 4:27 p.m. Wednesday, Ferris Department of Public Safety and Mecosta County EMS personnel responded to a report of a football player who collapsed during practice. Attempts to save Sklom's life were unsuccessful.

According to FSU Athletics Director Tom Kirinovic, a medical examiner has indicated that Sklom's death was the result of the timing of contact between him and the other player involved in the drill, and not the collision itself.

"According to the doctor who is performing the autopsy, the preliminary autopsy findings suggest that death was caused by a blow to the chest during a tackling drill, which caused the heart to fibrillate -- a highly lethal situation. He also indicated that injuries of this nature are not unusual in athletes involved in contact sports," said Kirinovic in an afternoon press conference.

Kirinovic explained that the blow must have occurred between heartbeats, causing the heart to "flutter." His coaching and training staff responded within seconds of Sklom's collapse, and the ambulance arrived within minutes.

"I am so impressed with the speed and professionalism with which our staff responded," said Kirinovic. "They performed amazingly in an extremely trying situation."

The 18-year-old Sklom came to Ferris as a 2002 Eisenhower High School graduate and multi-sport high-school athlete from Blue Island, Ill., near Chicago. He was a CAD Drafting/Tool Design major who joined the Bulldog football team as a walk-on this fall.

Ferris head football coach Jeff Pierce described Sklom as a hard-working young man.

"Matt hadn't been here long - just a few weeks - so I didn't know him well," said Pierce. "What I saw in Matt was a good kid who worked hard and gave his all to playing football here at Ferris."

Bulldog co-captain and senior defensive end Bo Moore echoed the coach's sentiments. "Matt never took a day off, even as a redshirted freshman," Moore said. "He was so happy to be a part of this team, and I was really looking forward to seeing how he would turn out as a player."

Pierce said practice would be held Thursday afternoon to get a feel for how the team is doing. A meeting is scheduled for Friday to decide whether this Saturday's game versus Grand Valley State will take place as scheduled.

Details regarding funeral services are not yet available. The university's counseling center and housing staffs have been working closely with the athletics department to meet the needs of players, roommates and friends affected by the loss. The flag over Top Taggart Field has been lowered to half-staff in Sklom's memory -- all university flags will be lowered on the day of his funeral services.