Francis Scott Key High School in Union Bridge, Maryland, had its first female student try out for the football team. The school's lawyers had advised that it had to accept her under Title IX, which forbids sex discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal funding. Tawana Hammond, a 17-year-old who had never played organized ball, was tackled in her first scrimmage and suffered injuries that required the removal of her spleen and half her pancreas. She was placed on life support for four months. Hammond has now sued the school for $1.5 million, alleging that the school did not properly inform her of the risks of playing football.

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