Out of tragedy, NSSO is born

How his son's shocking death inspired NSSO's founder

Written by Debi Shoepe, NSSO Senior Editor

 

August 3, 2001 should have been a day just like any other day for Rashidi Wheeler. A senior at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, Rashidi was the starting strong safety for the Wildcats. Standing 6-foot tall and weighing in at 212 pounds, Rashidi was in top shape and known as a player to contend with.

Coming into the 2001 season, Rashidi's football career was solid. In 2000 the team went 8-4 overall, was 6-2 in the Big Ten, and tied for the Big Ten Championship, a rare occurrence for Northwestern. Rashidi was the starting safety in all 12 games, including the exciting game against the Michigan Wolverines, when the Wildcats beat the perennial powerhouse 54-51. Rashidi finished third on the team that year with 88 tackles, 59 of them solo, a fumble recovery, and three pass breakups.

The new season looked promising for Rashidi, and most likely he would be the starting strong safety once again. The team was strong, Rashidi was hitting his stride, and it was very possible that he would be drafted after graduation.

Conditioning drills were grueling

That afternoon, Rashidi and his teammates ran a conditioning test, a punishing drill Coach Randy Walker brought with him when he came onboard with the Wildcats. The conditioning drills were a prerequisite to make the team roster each year. Conditioning workouts are a regular occurrence in high school, college and professional football, but unfortunately much of the training takes place during the late summer when the heat can be brutal. The grueling workouts are meant to "separate the men from the boys", and often showed who had been sluffing off and who had been working out over the summer.

The players had to complete ten 100-meter sprints in 14 seconds or less, followed by eight 80-meter sprints in 12 seconds, six 60's in nine seconds, and four 40's in seven seconds, with the same amount of time to rest between each run. Players regularly collapsed and vomited at the drills, but Coach Walker did them anyway, pumping up his team by telling them to be "bigger, stronger, faster." Walker wasn't going to attend this drill, but have his trainers videotape it and chart the performance of each player.

Asthma hadn't been a problem

Rashidi had been focused all week on the upcoming drill. There were ten players on the team with asthma, including Rashidi. It was part of him, but the asthma never held him back from what he wanted. He kept his inhaler with him at all times, and had passed a medical exam by university physician Dr. Mark Gardner only three weeks before. Rashidi was ready for the drill, physically and mentally.

The day was hot, 82-degrees, with a heat index of 87. The team usually practiced on the field next to the football stadium, but due to the heat the drill was moved to a lakeside field in hopes that it would be cooler. At 4:00 PM, Rashidi and his fellow Wildcats gathered on the field to start the drill. According to a statement issued by the university, the workout was monitored by head athletic trainer Tory Aggeler, strength and conditioning director Larry Lilja, one student trainer, and approximately four assistant trainers.

A video camera was set up at each end of the field to tape the drill. A staff member timed the sprints with a stopwatch, and trainers had water bottles available.

The 60 players were divided into four groups. The first group, which consisted mainly of quarterbacks and linebackers, ran the difficult drill without any major problems. The next group contained wide receivers, defensive backs, linebacker Kevin Bentley and starting strong safety Rashidi Wheeler. Rashidi and Kevin hugged and wished each other luck, then lined up for their first 100-yard sprint.

Routine sprints go terribly wrong

"3,2,1. First 100. Good start." Rashidi and his group finished the 100- and 80-yard sprints. They lined next up to do the 60-yard sprints. The group got off to a strong start, but Rashidi started to slow down. He finished last in the first 60, barely making the required time. By the fifth sprint, he was almost ten yards behind his group. As the pack started on the 40's, Rashidi struggled with his balance. His teammates encouraged him from the finish line, and Kevin ran over to help his friend.

Rashidi collapsed as the players lined up to start the next sprint. He stood in line for a moment, walked about five yards, then fell to his hands and knees, breathing hard and shallow. Kevin once again ran to Rashidi, this time joined by Tory, the head trainer.

The other players ran their sprints around them, adding to the chaos. No one knew how serious the situation was at the time, or how much worse it would soon get.

But even as Rashidi gasped for breath, he fought to continue on. "As we were removing him from the field, he said, 'No, no.'" Tory told the Chicago Tribune. "There was that initial resistance, but I think he knew he wasn't going to be able to (finish). He was just exhausted. Then we got him back to the sidelines... He was alert and we were administering to him in a situation that didn't appear at that time to be totally emergent."

Rashidi used his asthma inhaler, but this time it wasn't working. One trainer gave Rashidi a bag to breath in, a tactic used for hyperventilation, not asthma. Tory left Rashidi with Michael Rose, an intern trainer, who informed him minutes later that the player's breathing was getting worse. Kevin has said that at one point Rashidi fell off the bench, looked up at him and said, "K.B., I'm dying!"

911 phone was out of order

According to police reports, Rashidi then became "unresponsive and seized". The staff tried to administer CPR, but Rashidi didn't respond. The practice session did not have medical staff or an ambulance on hand like at the games, not even an AED, an Automated External Defibrillator. Someone ran to the emergency phone to call 911, but the phone at the field was out of order, a major safety violation.

The players ran to their cars to get their cell phones, to call for help for their friend and teammate. Reception was bad, but after several attempts and one dropped call, someone finally got through. Meanwhile, the sprints continued on. Running back Jason Wright told the Los Angeles Times, "Rashidi was two players ahead of me in line. I never saw Rashidi go down, because I collapsed and fell unconscious too. I got up, threw up and was as happy as I've ever been that I passed. Then I heard someone say, 'Rashidi lost his pulse.' I was speechless. I went from overly excited to another, completely opposite feeling."

Tight end Eric Worley drove his car out to the main road to guide the emergency vehicles back to the secluded field. The Evanston Fire Department arrived during the fourth groupÕs set of sprints, 30 minutes after Rashidi collapsed. Players gathered around as the paramedics worked on their fallen teammate. Some held hands, some knelt and bowed their heads, while back on the field others were still running their sprints. About an hour later, 22-year old Northwestern starting strong safety Rashidi Wheeler was pronounced dead at the Evanston Hospital.

Profound shock follows death

First came the shock. No one could comprehend how one minute this strong, handsome, gregarious athlete was alive and joking around, and the next minute he was gone, just like that. Kevin Bentley took on the sad task of informing Rashidi's parents, Linda Will and George Wheeler Jr., with the news that no parent should ever have to hear.

Linda Will had called her son the night before, upset about the heat-related death of NFL player Korey Stringer on August 1st while at training camp for the Minnesota Vikings. She told the boys to "be careful, drink water, take care of yourselves," Kevin told the Chicago Tribune. "We joked, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah...,' Twenty-four hours later I talked to his mom and it was a totally different story." As George Wheeler aptly put it, "It was holy hell."

Linda Will and George Wheeler, who had divorced shortly after Rashidi's birth, made the long, sad flight from their Los Angeles area homes to attend their son's memorial at Northwestern. Both parents were proud of their son and very involved in his life. Only a couple months earlier Rashidi had written to his dad in his Father's Day card, "When a child, especially a boy, grows up, there is no better teacher than a father, and I am learning from the best."

And now George was here to take his son home for good.

The memorial service was held on the school grounds at the Alice Millar Chapel. Flags were hung at half-mast at Ryan Field as the hundreds of students, friends, and family slowly filed in. Linda and George had asked The Reverend Jesse Jackson to speak at the service, and to speak for the family on their behalf. Jesse Jackson was a former freshman quarterback at Illinois and has three sons who also played college football.

"My concern in Rashidi's death is humanitarian, not as a civil rights leader," he said. "There's no evidence of this being a black-and-white issue. I'm addressing this as a father, as a former football player, as the father of three former football players."

Jesse Jackson comforts grieving family members and players

Jackson spoke of the young man who had only begun to live, yet had brought so much joy to all who knew him. He spoke emotionally and eloquently at the memorial, reaching out to all. He sometime used football terminology to reach Rashidi's grieving teammates, "Here we are players, in sudden death. What do we do in sudden death? Do we panic? Do we give up? What do you do? You can't walk away! You suck it up! You give it one more try! You've got to play twice as hard! You don't want to lose by forfeit!"

The memorial touched on Rashidi's short but fulfilling life. He might not have lived long, but the young man had achieved a great deal in that short amount of time. Rashidi lettered in three sports at Damien High School in LaVerne, California- football, track, and basketball- and he played soccer. He was voted the most valuable offensive player in high school not just once, but twice. He won an All-Conference Scholar Athlete Award and he played in the San Gabriel All-Star Game. He was the captain of his football team during his senior year. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards, scored 13 touchdowns, caught three passes for touchdowns, and averaged 6.9 yards per carry.

But Rashidi wasn't just about sports. He was intelligent and did well in school, majoring in communications at Northwestern. He painted abstracts, wrote poetry, and talked of opening an art gallery.

He was well-rounded, well-liked and popular, yet remained humble. All in all, he was a good person, and one who would be greatly missed.

Rumors swirl around death

While the preliminary report ruled that the cause of Rashidi's death was due to bronchial asthma, the tragedy was under investigation and rumors were starting to fly. There were reports that Rashidi may have been taking supplements that contained ephedrine, a substance banned by the NCAA. Other rumors suggested that the Wildcat's staff was overwhelmed by the number of players that were passing out during the conditioning drill, and didn't have enough support staff to tend to them all. Knowing this was not the time to discuss the situation, Jackson didn't say much about the chaotic circumstances that lead up to Rashidi's death, but said there were questions about it "that perplexed us."

After the memorial, Linda Will and George Wheeler accompanied their son back to California. Only a few days before, Rashidi had a bright future to look forward to, a life to live, and now he was being laid to rest on his home coast. The service was held at the First Baptist Church in Pomona. Hundreds of mourners attended the service. Jesse Jackson gave the final tribute to the fallen young athlete.

Jesse Jackson said that Rashidi's death could bring changes to college football that will save lives for years to come. "He's going to save thousands of young athletes. People are asking questions about pre-practice practices because of Rashidi, they're asking about unauthorized practices because of Rashidi, they're asking about Ultimate Orange because of Rashidi.

The media storm begins

The media storm had already begun, complicating the grieving process for the stricken family. Rashidi was the fourth football player to die in a ten-day period. Eraste Autin, a 255-pound freshman fullback at the University of Florida in Gainesville, died July 25th after succumbing to heatstroke during practice the previous week.

Korey Stringer, the 305-pound tackle for the Minnesota Vikings, collapsed during practice on July 31st and died in the hospital the next day, the first documented heatstroke death to occur in the NFL. Later that same day, Travis Stowers, a 17-year old high school player, collapsed during an extremely hot practice in Michigantown, Indiana, and later died of heatstroke.

Then came Rashidi, the starting safety for the Northwestern Wildcats. Heat had been suggested as a factor in Rashidi death, but until the results of the autopsy were completed, asthma was still the number one suspect.

Jesse Jackson served as spokesman for the family, and confirmed that he was helping the family conduct an investigation into their son's untimely death.

A top legal team had been appointed, including Johnnie Cochran Jr., the former attorney for O.J. Simpson, and Thomas A. Demetrio, one of the nation's leading trial lawyers and a past president of the Illinois Trial Lawyer's Association. The details leading up to Rashidi's death did not add up, and Linda Will and George Wheeler were going to get to the bottom of it.

Another football player dies

Sadly, a few weeks later, yet another football player needlessly died. Leonard Carter Jr., 14, of Houston, Texas, died of heatstroke during a hot high school football practice. Something was very wrong here, and thoughts were starting to form in George's mind. He wasnÕt sure where it was going to take him yet, but something had to be done. First, however, he had to see to his own son, to try and understand what happened on that hot, muggy day in August.

Less than a month after their son's death, Linda Will and George Wheeler Jr. filed a lawsuit in Cook Court Circuit Court against Northwestern University. The suit named the university, defendants Coach Randy Walker, athletic director Rick Taylor, head football athletic trainer Terrence "Tory" Aggeler, and four other members of the Wildcat's football staff. The suit alleged that even though Rashidi's asthmatic condition was well documented, the staff mishandled and misdiagnosed the player's treatment at the time of his collapse. In addition, the lawsuit alleged that the university did not have adequate medical equipment on site, a fully-certified physician on site, an emergency plan, a working emergency phone, or enough trainers on hand to assist the possible 10 to 12 players that may have been down at the same time.

In their defense, Northwestern claimed in a court filing that Rashidi's use of the banned energy-enhancement products, Ultimate Orange, Ultimate Punch and Xenadrine, contributed to his death. Blood tests did reveal that Rashidi had small amount of ephedrine in his blood, but Cook County Medical Examiner Edmund Donoghue concluded that the substance did not contribute to the player's death. Rashidi, he ruled, died from a "classic case of exercise-induced asthma".

The lawsuit had everything a good movie is made of: a young, handsome victim, grieving parents struggling to fight for justice, a large institution fighting to hide details that may incriminate them, superstar legal teams, emotional outbursts in court, and mysteriously missing documents. On July 12th, only three weeks before his death, Rashidi had seen the school physician for a physical examination. Three copies of the results should have been available. The original should have stayed with the doctor, one copy should have been filed with the athletic department and one with Student Health Services. But there were no copies to be found.

Dr. Mark Gardner, the physician who examined Rashidi and was in charge of maintaining records, burned all copies of the exam results sometime during the next couple days after Rashidi's death. Not just shredded, burned. He then checked himself into a hospital for three weeks. Dr. Gardner has never said why he did such a thing, if he was ordered to do it, or what was in the file that made him do so. The doctor no longer works for the university, and the university claims that the doctor acted on his own accord.

Thomas Demetrio, George Wheeler's attorney, said in the Chicago Tribune that the disappearance of key medical records was mysterious. "The general assumption is that Northwestern lost or destroyed the documents because they were unfavorable for them."

Lawsuit nearly settled in 2005

Jack Riley Jr., the attorney for Phoenix Laboratories, who manufactures Xenadrine for another company, also spoke to the Chicago Tribune about the missing documents. "You couldn't have any record more pertinent," he said. "He was given a medical exam on July 12, three weeks before the incident. What was his state of physical health, especially as it relates to his asthma? The original and the copies have disappeared, and Northwestern hasn't explained why. It's beyond belief."

The lawsuit dragged on for years, in the courts and in the media. Instead of being able to heal and move on, Linda and George had to live their son's death over and over again while they fought for justice. And if and when they won, what exactly would that mean?

"There really are no winners when you're involved in a lawsuit like this one," George explained. "It's awkward to put someone you once trusted on trial for negligence. It feels like a huge betrayal and when a life is lost the whole process can become very nasty and depressing. All the money in the world won't replace your loved ones, so it can feel very empty even when you win the case."

Obviously there was a need for more information, for better up-to-date information on how to keep student athletes safe. George was too late to save his own son, but if he could spare just one other parent from going through this agony, it would be worth it.

"The process of the lawsuit was filled with uncertainly," he said, "and there was certainly no guarantee that it would go in my favor. Because there was so much at stake, the lawsuit became very intense at times and almost felt like warfare."

"I decided that if I ultimately received a financial settlement, that I would use those resources to start NSSO. I can't bring Rashidi back, but I believe I can help to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening to someone else."

The lawsuit had more twists and turns and stomach-dropping falls than a roller coaster, but finally all the plaintiffs had been heard, the evidence examined, and the experts cross-examined. In September of 2005, four years after Rashidi's death, Northwestern University settled the case for a jaw-dropping $16 million dollars. Linda Will and George Wheeler had been vindicated.

Even after he had won his case against Northwestern, George still had sympathy for the school and all that had occurred. "It felt like a very hollow victory. There was a lot of negative fallout for Northwestern University. Their football team was doing extremely well in 2000 and they had aspirations for another good season in 2001. But Rashidi's death and the ensuing lawsuit probably had a very negative effect on their reputation, their recruiting, and their fundraising. They only had one winning season from 2001 through 2007."

George Wheeler starts NSSO

The financial settlement did accomplish one very important goal. It gave George Wheeler the resources to start the National Sports Safety Organization. In the years leading up to the settlement, George had already laid out the initial groundwork for his plan. He wanted to create a clearinghouse of sports safety information where anyone- students, parents, schools, organizations- could come to. He had written his mission statement, created a preliminary organizational plan, put together a small team, and worked hand in hand with his team to create the things that a new organization needs, including a website and other communications resources. The NSSO website (www.nssousa.org) is a detailed resource center with over 40 pages of content. The website includes many pages of information on sports safety and related subjects. In order to stay current, the website is a living document that is updated and expanded on a continuous basis.

George decided to make NSSO a grassroots membership organization, one that would provide a wealth of information and resources to its stakeholders. His plan is to form partnerships with businesses and organizations with the same interests as NSSO. Many of these businesses will be providing NSSO members with discounts and special offers on their products and services, and in return NSSO is featuring those businesses on the Membership Sponsor Page of the website.

In addition, NSSO is providing to their membership sponsors a new marketing portal on the e-commerce section of the NSSO website. Soon NSSO sponsors will be able to sell their products and services on the NSSO web site.

One of the cornerstones of NSSO is the Collegiate Sports Safety Report (CSSR). George felt it was important that student athletes and their parents had an easy way to compare safety procedures in schools. The NSSO CSSR follows criteria compiled from leading health and safety organizations. The CSSR will identify what safety equipment and procedures should be in place to ensure the safety and health of all sports participants. Participating schools will receive a follow-up letter showing where they need improvement, if any.

To make it easier for schools and organizations to comply with the best safety standards, George asked paramedics to put together the perfect first aid kit for sports teams and activities. This comprehensive kit contains everything from an AED and oxygen to splints and dressings.

The NSSO Safety Kit, available on the NSSO website, is housed in an easy to carry medical bag and is perfect for teams on the go. The NSSO kit is also useful as a guideline for those who wish to put together their own safety kits.

When asked to summarize NSSO's most important goals, George Wheeler stressed: "We simply want to make sporting events safer for everyone involved. We're bringing together as many sports safety resources as possible to address these important concerns. We'd like to invite both individuals and organizations to become a part of the NSSO team. With the help of our members and sponsors, we're confident that we can deliver a high level of sports safety services to all of our stakeholders." Although NSSO is just beginning, it has already accomplished a great deal and reached many people in a very short time. Rashidi Wheeler didn't have to die, and George knows he can never bring back his son, but if NSSO saves just one life, he's done his job.