Tampa attorneys Steve Yerrid and Jeffrey D. Murphy yesterday filed a wrongful death suit against the University of California Berkeley in connection with the death of a UCB football player.
The suit was filed on behalf of the parents of University of California Berkeley football player Ted Agu, 21, who died Feb. 7 following a pre-season conditioning drill.
Ambrose and Emilia Agu allege their son died as a result of reckless and negligent behavior on the part of UCB football trainers and coaches. The suit claims Agu, who was known to have sickle cell disease, died as a result of an overly taxing conditioning drill that was inappropriate and extreme given his known medical condition.
Agu’s death is remarkably similar to the death of a University of Central Florida (UCF) football player, Ereck Plancher, who also suffered from Sickle Cell Disease. What’s more, at the time of his collapse, Agu was being supervised by athletic trainer Robert Jackson who, prior to being employed at UCB, was employed by UCF. Jackson was involved in a conditioning exercise there that resulted in Plancher’s collapse and death. Jackson failed to intervene in either of the conditioning exercises.
Coverage of the lawsuit includes stories in Associated Press, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Daily Californian, San Francisco Chronicle, Orlando Sentinel, New York Times, NBCSports, San Jose Mercury News, CBS, CBSSports, FOX News, and many other outlets, including TV and radio.