EDINA, Minn. -- Randy Moss looked at the coffin holding
Korey Stringer's body and spoke as if his Minnesota Vikings
teammate could hear him.
"Big fella, you ought to see how many people are here, man,"
said Moss, holding one of Stringer's enormous No. 77 jerseys.
| | Randy Moss regains his composure while addressing the memorial service for teammate and friend Korey Stringer. |
Moss then addressed the audience of about 500 at the memorial
service Friday, two days after the Pro Bowl offensive tackle died
of heatstroke.
"I want to pass this jersey around. I want everybody to touch
it, kiss it, wipe your tears on it," Moss told the crowd. "I
don't care what you do with it, as long as you feel this jersey.
And we're going to send it off with Korey, and I'm not leaving this
podium until I get this jersey back."
After the purple jersey was passed around at the
Washburn-McReavy Chapel, Moss returned to the pews to join the rest
of the Vikings and others who came to pay their last respects.
The service also drew relatives, friends, fans and former
teammates, including Todd Steussie, now with the Carolina Panthers.
Former Viking Alan Page, a justice of Minnesota's Supreme Court,
and Sen. Paul Wellstone were on hand, too, along with NFL
commissioner Paul Tagliabue.
Tagliabue doesn't want to have to attend such a service ever
again. He has told all 31 teams that executives, coaches and team
medical personnel should meet regularly to discuss practice
conditions to help players avoid heatstroke.
The death of the 6-foot-4, 335-pound Stringer shocked the
Vikings and the entire NFL, leaving both in mourning.
"We're looking at ourselves right now, and how we are. I'm
confident we'll look at ourselves very well," Tagliabue said.
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Minnesota laws might limit Vikings' liability in Stringer death
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MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings probably would not be
found liable in a lawsuit over Korey Stringer's death, said several attorneys and experts in Minnesota employment law.
The Vikings would have to be found guilty of negligence or found
to have inflicted intentional harm, according to Minnesota state
worker's compensation laws that protect employers from liability.
Stringer, who died Wednesday, is the first player in NFL history
to die from heatstroke. Heatstroke has killed 19 football players
since 1995, according to the National Center for Catastrophic
Sports Injury Research in Chapel Hill, N.C.
"There are teams that have been practicing in hot weather for
50 years, so it's not a clear danger," said Andy Tanick, an
attorney who specializes in labor and employment law for Rider,
Bennett, Egan and Arundel of Minneapolis. "And the heat has been
hard in the past on Korey Stringer."
Several attorneys agreed with Tanick, saying they believed
negligence would be nearly impossible to prove. At most, they said
the Stringer family could pursue a lawsuit against a third party
such as the NFL.
Joseph Daly, a professor of law at Hamline University in St.
Paul, disagreed.
"I think the Vikings could be found negligent," said Daly, who
has acted as a labor arbitrator for the U.S. Federal Mediation and
Conciliation Service. "Knowing he was throwing up the day before,
they very well may have been negligent to allow him to come back
the next day."
The state office of Occupational Safety and Health began an
investigation into Stringer's death -- which is routine for any
job-related fatality -- by sending two investigators Wednesday to
the Vikings' training camp in Mankato. The investigation is
expected to last more than a month, according to OSHA spokesman
James Honerman.
Minnesota worker's compensation laws protect workers from
employers who might use their wealth to deny benefits, but they
also protect employers from having to pay against potential future
earnings.
A surviving spouse with a child can receive more than two-thirds
of the employee's pay, but the amount is capped. Stringer's widow,
Kelci, who has a 3-year-old son Kodie, will receive $750 a week for
about the next 30 years and the state will pay $15,000 toward
burial costs.
Kelci Stringer also will receive up to $725,000 of Korey
Stringer's salary, plus a severance payment and benefits from life
insurance, annuities, 401(k) and the NFL Players Association
retirement fund.
-- Associated Press
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"I think there's obviously a fierce competitive spirit in
players like Korey Stringer. Whether that's what led to what
happened, that's what we don't know about."
The Vikings maintain no one was to blame for Stringer's death,
which followed an intense practice in stifling humidity and
temperatures in the 90s.
The state is investigating to determine whether the team was
negligent, a standard procedure. Results of an autopsy weren't
immediately released.
Above the chapel, an American flag fluttered and a Vikings flag
flew just below it. Team officials carried flowers into the
building, and police began directing traffic early in the afternoon
in anticipation of a huge turnout.
Several miles away in downtown Minneapolis, flags outside the
Metrodome were lowered to half-staff. Fans began arriving at the
chapel hours before a public viewing was to begin, and later many
of them left sobbing.
"I just came to see him one last time," longtime Vikings fan
Shonnye Peterson said. "I cried. I was just devastated" when she
learned of Stringer's death.
During the service, which was carried live on local television,
Moss made some of the most poignant remarks, two days after
breaking down in tears at the news conference to discuss Stringer's
death.
Like Moss, coach Dennis Green talked to Stringer as if the
lineman were still around.
"We have taken baby steps going on without you because we know
you would want us to," he said at the service. "Every day I'm
going to think about you. I'll think about who you are. I'll think
about all the love you've given so many people, and that's why so
many people are here."
Offensive line coach Mike Tice talked of helping Stringer lose
weight and develop into a Pro Bowl player.
"I've got a hole inside me I don't think I can ever fill,"
Tice said. "I don't want that hole to heal. I want that scar to
remind me of Korey."
Wide receiver Cris Carter said: "I'm glad I was able to enjoy
the gift, oh, Lord, and I pray that one day when they put me in a
casket, that I would be like him, not famous, but unforgettable."
The Vikings held a light morning workout in Mankato before
heading to the Twin Cities for the service. Green said the practice
was another step in the recovery process. As they did at Thursday's
practice, players held a moment of prayer.
The Vikings canceled an intrasquad scrimmage Friday night and a
scrimmage against Kansas City on Monday. They planned a closed
workout in the Twin Cities on Saturday.
A public viewing will be held in Warren, Ohio, Stringer's
hometown, on Sunday. A private funeral service and burial will
follow Monday in Warren.
Esperanza McManus attended the service Friday with her two sons,
11 and 6, and said she wouldn't have done it for another player.
Stringer was different because he was active in the community,
reaching out especially to minority children, she said. Her son had
gone to library events in St. Paul where Stringer read to children.
"To me he wasn't just a player," McManus said. "He was a big
part of the community."
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