Following head football coach Randy Walker’s Monday deposition in the wrongful death case of Rashidi Wheeler, the player’s mother on Tuesday requested a statement from an even higher ranking official — University President Henry Bienen.
Tom Marszewski, a lawyer for Wheeler’s mother, Linda Will, said Bienen can provide valuable information about the university’s investigation into the death of the former NU safety.
“We’d like to hear what the president has to say,” Marszewski said, adding that the deposition could take place within the next 60 days.
NU lawyer Eric Quandt said the notice he received asking for Bienen’s deposition was just part of the “continuing process” of gathering information.
“Frankly, we fully anticipated that the plaintiff would request his deposition,” Quandt said.
In an e-mail, Bienen declined to comment on the planned deposition, referring all questions to university lawyers.
Wheeler collapsed and died during a sprinting drill on Aug. 3, 2001. The Cook County Medical Examiner determined Wheeler died from exercise-induced asthma.
Walker completed his deposition at Quandt’s offices Monday. Walker also had been interviewed for a full day in March, so this week’s deposition took less than three hours.
Eric Ferrer, another of Will’s lawyers, said he asked most of the questions at Walker’s depositions.
According to Ferrer’s account of the proceedings, Walker said he didn’t know that Wheeler and others on the team were taking supplements containing the NCAA-banned substance ephedrine. Walker also said he didn’t know supplements were found in Wheeler’s locker.
“I found that to be pretty amazing,” Ferrer said. “It seems like one hand doesn’t know what the other one is doing.”
But Quandt said there were no major revelations at Monday’s deposition.
University lawyer Walter Jones Jr. said Walker’s story hasn’t changed.
“The coach has been fairly consistent in what he has to say,” Jones said. “He doesn’t need to be rehearsed for these things.”
Marszewski said Will’s legal team also wants to speak with Dr. Mark Gardner, who performed a physical on Wheeler in July 2001 three weeks before his death. Records of the physical cannot be found, according to court papers filed by the university in March.
Will’s lawyers want a deposition from Bienen because they want more information about how an internal investigation in fall 2001 was conducted and what conclusions were reached.
The football team forfeited six practices in 2001 after the investigation revealed that the coaches kept records of the drill — a violation of NCAA rules.
Shortly after Wheeler’s death, his mother filed the wrongful-death lawsuit against NU, Director of Athletics Rick Taylor, Walker and others.
