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But the family of Devaughn Darling still has "concerns'' and may hire an independent investigator.
By BRIAN LANDMAN
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 20, 2001
TALLAHASSEE -- He sat quietly in the back of the room, hoping to hear a sensible explanation for the unfathomable: the sudden death of his younger brother, Florida State freshman linebacker Devaughn Darling.
"We just want some closure to this," Dennis Darling said.
He didn't get it. FSU police closed an exhaustive seven-week inquiry, in which it interviewed four coaches, 16 trainers and 21 players, by saying it found no evidence of wrongdoing. Dennis Darling somberly left the news conference with questions, including about FSU's off-season conditioning program.
"There's a lot of concerns that I have and my family have," he said.
"I'm not satisfied," said Frank Rutherford, 36, a cousin of Darling whom Dennis calls a father figure, during a telephone interview from the family's home in Sugar Land, Texas. "We probably want an independent investigation so we can point to a definite factor."
Devaughn Darling collapsed after a strenuous morning workout Feb. 26. Despite the efforts of FSU trainers and Emergency Medical Services personnel, he died about an hour later.
He would have been 19 Monday.
"Our investigation has revealed that there is no cause to believe that any action or lack of action contributed to or caused the death of Mr. Darling," Carey Drayton, FSU police chief, said. "It's a lot easier when you can have some closure to situations, and unfortunately, there's not any clean closure in our findings."
Pathologist David E. Craig found no definite morphological cause of death and what was determined to be cold medicine in his system. The lone abnormality, according to the autopsy report, was that Darling had sickle cell trait. Some sports medicine researchers have found that exercise-associated sudden death has been associated with otherwise healthy athletic males with that trait.
Neither Devaughn, nor identical twin Devard, a receiver at FSU, knew they had inherited the one abnormal hemoglobin gene that results in sickle cell trait until they were screened for it upon their arrival at FSU.
"Once we had tested, Randy Oravetz, our head trainer, also counsels those student-athletes (with the trait)," athletic director Dave Hart said. "That's something he does appropriately in private with them so they are cognizant they have it and the risk involved."
The NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, in guidelines for athletes with the trait, calls it a "benign condition" and says "no unwarranted restrictions or limitations should be placed on" the individual.
The part of the counseling on which the NCAA advocates focusing is family planning.
What Devaughn and Devard were told is unknown, but Dennis said Devard initially was "kind of scared" by what he heard.
"But I don't think the sickle cell trait has anything to do with it," said Dennis, who moved to Tallahassee to live with his surviving brother.
He and Rutherford are skeptical about the mat drills, FSU's signature conditioning program. The drills are grueling by design, and though water is available, there is little time for more than a few quick swigs.
"That's a major concern of ours," said Rutherford, a three-time Olympian from the Bahamas who won a bronze in the triple jump in the 1992 Games.
"I feel there should be some type of break," said Dennis, an Olympian who finished seventh in the 4x400-meter relay for the Bahamas in the 1996 Games and hopes to qualify for the 2004 Games. Though proper hydration is vital for any athlete, it is especially important for someone with the sickle cell trait, researchers say. Even the NCAA guidelines stress that.
At the University of Florida, which like FSU screens all its athletes for sickle cell trait -- something the NCAA doesn't recommend -- trainers make certain that anyone with sickle cell trait is as hydrated as possible, said Chris Patrick, assistant athletic director for sports health.
"We're going to encourage everyone to drink and take in a lot of fluid, but the ones we know have the trait, we may tell him twice as opposed to the other guy once," he said.
South Florida doesn't do screening, but if an athlete indicates he or she has the trait, then "we make sure that person was super-hydrated" and "we handle that person a little differently than our normal athlete," said Barry Clements, an assistant director of athletics and the director of sports medicine.
There is no telling how much water Darling drank during his final workout. Statements from coaches, trainers and players included in the police's several-hundred-page report indicate only that Darling struggled, fell and complained to teammates -- not the trainers or coaches -- of not being able to see and having chest pains.
Teammates said they urged him to finish, which he did.
Coach Bobby Bowden has said he and his staff will reassess the conditioning program. Hart said that process has begun but is satisfied that all athletes are properly monitored.
"I think the conclusion of the police's investigation would warrant that level of satisfaction," he said. "I'll take this opportunity to applaud our medical team and our trainers for the way they responded, the manner in which they responded and the manner in which they have continued to put such a high priority on the safety of our student-athletes because that is paramount. It always has been and will remain to be."
The Darlings want to believe that.
Although Devard has been held out of practices and has been having tests, he wants to play for the Seminoles. That was his and his twin's dream. Yet the family wants answers about what happened and why. Is litigation possible?
"At this point, I don't want to comment on that," Rutherford said. "We need to find out specifically what took (Devaughn)."