The names of all Northwestern football players can be used in the Rashidi Wheeler wrongful-death lawsuit, a judge ruled Thursday.
Lawyer Peter Rush — who represents juniors Jason Wright and Torri Stuckey and former running back Kevin Lawrence — had asked that the names of Wheeler’s former teammates not be included in court filings and statements to the media. If Rush’s request had been approved, the players would have been referred to by random numbers instead of by their names.
But Cook County Circuit Court Judge Kathy Flanagan ruled the players’ identities should not be protected because too much information about their behavior, including the use of banned supplements, already has been reported in the press.
“The horse is out of the barn, past the fence … and over the interstate,” Flanagan said, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Rush said Friday that he was “disappointed” by Flanagan’s decision.
“I think the players still have privacy rights that should be protected,” said Rush, who is paid by NU.
Rush said four other NU players — whose names he would not reveal — have hired him to represent them in the Wheeler case. Rush said he is considering alternative ways to protect the players’ reputations but declined to give specifics.
“It seems like the rights of these players often are overlooked,” he said.
Wright, Stuckey and Lawrence could not be reached for comment, although Rush said he had informed the three players of Flanagan’s decision.
Lawyers for two of the supplement manufacturers involved in the case opposed Rush’s request at a hearing May 6. They argued the request was designed more to protect the university than its athletes.
Flanagan originally told lawyers for all sides she would issue a written ruling and have it delivered to their offices. Instead, Flanagan told the lawyers late Wednesday that she would issue her ruling verbally in court Thursday afternoon.
The Wheeler case began in August 2001, just weeks after the former defensive back collapsed and died during a preseason conditioning drill. The Cook County Medical Examiner ruled that Wheeler died from exercise-induced asthma. Wheeler’s parents are suing the university, head coach Randy Walker, Director of Athletics Rick Taylor and several others.
NU, which blames Wheeler’s death on the use of supplements containing the NCAA-banned substance ephedra, has brought five companies associated with the production and distribution of the supplements into the case. The Illinois House of Representatives voted unanimously Thursday night to ban the over-the-counter sale of supplements containing ephedra.
