Walker and Taylor Defendants in Suit

Northwestern Coach Randy Walker and Athletic Director Rick Taylor were named Thursday in a lawsuit filed in Cook County, Ill., Circuit Court by Linda Will, the mother of Rashidi Wheeler.

Wheeler, a 22-year-old starting senior safety, collapsed during a Northwestern conditioning test Aug. 3 and was later pronounced dead at Evanston (Ill.) Hospital.

Will’s attorneys, Jim Montgomery and Johnnie Cochran Jr., determined that Walker and Taylor should be named as defendants in the negligence suit, along with Northwestern and the training staff that attended to Wheeler.

Trainer Tory Aggeler, strength coach Larry Lilja and three other members of the football staff, Thomas Christian, Justin Chabot and Michael Rose, also were named defendants.

The suit was expected to be filed today, but Montgomery opted to process it Thursday in preparation for a news conference this morning.

Wheeler, a chronic asthmatic from La Verne Damien High, collapsed during the conditioning test, which consisted of sprints varying in distance from 100 to 40 yards.

Walker did not attend the voluntary drill because of NCAA rules, but he did designate the sprints a team requisite.

The nine-page suit points to three breakdowns deemed negligent: improper and inexperienced staffing, inability to establish immediate contact with emergency personnel and an incorrect diagnosis that Wheeler was hyperventilating.

“Negligence is defined as doing something a reasonable person wouldn’t, or failing to do something a reasonable person would do,” said Randall Schwartz, an associate of the Montgomery/Cochran firm. “That’s what this was.”

Taylor ordered Walker not to repeat the drill when Northwestern players reported to training camp last Friday in Kenosha, Wis.

“Obviously, we are disappointed by this action, but it does not alter the university’s sympathy for Rashidi’s family for their loss,” Northwestern spokesman Alan Cubbage said.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, serving as the spokesman for Will, said he didn’t believe Walker or Taylor needed to be included in the suit. Jackson is taking issue with the university for the voluntary practice he labels as illegal.

“They were clearly circumventing the law,” Jackson said.

Referring to Walker and Taylor, Jackson said, “Why would you go after them? They’re branches on the tree. I would go after the tree.”