CHICAGO -- While paramedics tried unsuccessfully to save the
life of Northwestern football player Rashidi Wheeler, videotapes
show teammates continued workouts under the supervision of school
staff.
Representatives of Wheeler's family say the tapes again raise
questions about the emergency response to his collapse. The tapes
also could heighten the debate over whether the workout violated
NCAA regulations.
The tapes of the Aug. 3 workout, given to a Wheeler family
attorney by Northwestern athletic department staff members and
passed on to the Chicago Tribune, show the senior safety wobbling
and dropping to his hands and knees as he attempts to complete wind
sprints.
Later, an ambulance arrives and paramedics try to resuscitate
Wheeler as some players gather nearby holding hands and bowing
their heads. Other players, meanwhile, continue to take the
conditioning test.
Coach Randy Walker requires players to pass the test and many
take it during the summer conditioning program to get it out of the
way before training camp.
"I am simply amazed that they continued these sprints," said
James Montgomery, the Chicago partner of lawyer Johnnie Cochran,
who represents the Wheeler family. "The kid was down. They knew he
was an asthmatic, and they knew he told them he was dying. Yet they
were more concerned with continuing their sprints."
The tapes show a staff member with a stopwatch monitoring the
drill. The NCAA in April tightened the definition of a voluntary
off-season workout: players, and not coaches or other team staff
members, must initiate the workout; no information about the
workout is recorded or reported to coaches; and players are not
punished for refusing to participate or given incentives to
participate.
"If someone is recording who's there and it's regimented,
that's not voluntary," said NCAA spokesman Wallace Renfro. He
could not be reached Sunday for further comment, but has refused to
address the Northwestern case.
A spokesman for the school did not immediately return a message
seeking comment. Northwestern athletic director Rick Taylor has
told Walker to stop the conditioning test until an internal review
of Wheeler's death is completed.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who is acting as a spokesman for the
family, called the workout a "supervised, unlawful practice."
He and others have also questioned whether the staff on hand was
adequately prepared for an emergency. An on-field phone was not
working at the time and the 911 call had to be made using a
player's cell phone, observers have said.
There have also been allegations that Wheeler and other players
may have taken an energy supplement prior to the test that is
banned by the NCAA. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office has
determined the 22-year-old Wheeler died of bronchial asthma but is
planning further toxicology tests.
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