Notre Dame Cornerback Collapses, Dies

Bob Satterfield, a Notre Dame cornerback who previously attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, collapsed and died in a nightclub near South Bend, Ind., early Thursday morning.

Satterfield, 22, died at 3 a.m., EST, at Pawatang Hospital in Niles, Mich., after collapsing at O’Tay’s Nightclub in Niles, about 5 miles from the Notre Dame campus, sports information director John Heisler said.

A preliminary autopsy indicated that Satterfield, 22, had suffered a seizure, followed by cardiac arrest, according to Notre Dame physician James M. Moriarity.

Test results showed no alcohol or drugs in Satterfield’s blood at the time of his death, Heisler said.

“The only significant findings of the autopsy examination were an inequality of the size of the coronary arteries and the presence of increased fluids surrounding the brain tissue,” Heisler said.

Satterfield and the Notre Dame team attended a White House reception in honor of its national championship on Wednesday. He was with defensive end Darrell Gordon and tailback Mark Green when he collapsed.

“He was feeling fine,” Gordon told the South Bend Tribune. “He had been dancing some earlier, but we were just sitting there at the table, just talking and joking, and all of a sudden he collapsed to the ground. It looked like he was having a seizure.”

After playing for Coach Kevin Rooney at Notre Dame High, Satterfield went to South Bend as a walk-on and was awarded an athletic scholarship last August. He was listed as a 6-foot, 181-pound cornerback and appeared in 2 games in 1988, shifting to offense and rushing twice for 9 yards.