CS Long Beach Receiver Loses Round in Court Fight for Permission to Play

Mark Seay, the Cal State Long Beach wide receiver who lost a kidney when he was shot last October, was denied a request Friday for a temporary restraining order that would have allowed him to rejoin the team.

However, Seay’s effort to continue his football career was kept alive when U.S. District Judge Ronald S.W. Lew set a hearing on a preliminary injunction for Sept. 11.

In his ruling, Lew said it was unclear from the evidence how well Seay’s remaining kidney is functioning. The evidence includes conflicting opinions from team doctor Robert Austin and Seay’s physician, Stewart Shankel of Loma Linda University.

Seay, 22, who was shot while shielding his 3-year-old niece from gunfire at a children’s Halloween party, was declared “medically ineligible” by Athletic Director Corey Johnson in June.

Richard J. Foster, Seay’s attorney, contends in a lawsuit filed last week that the university’s decision violates the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits a federally funded institution from discriminating against a physically limited person who is otherwise qualified.

“If we can’t show that Mark’s remaining kidney is operating within normal limits, then we lose and the Rehabilitation Act doesn’t apply,” Foster said.

Seay, who as a sophomore caught 31 passes for the 49ers before he was shot, has been working out on his own. “I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in,” he said.