Report: Football player showed signs of distress before collapse

4/11/2008 6:07 PM

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -Four teammates of a Central Florida football player who died last month say he showed signs of distress before collapsing following an intense workout, a newspaper reported Friday.

Ereck Plancher died March 18, about an hour after taking part in the team's ``mat drills.'' A cause of death has not been determined.

Teammates told the Orlando Sentinel that Plancher's final workout was more intense than what school officials initially described. The players requested anonymity because they feared retribution from coaches.

``Everybody was struggling at times,'' one player said. ``... But (Ereck) was running, and I could tell something wasn't right. His eyes got real dark, and he was squinting like he was blinded by the sun. He was making this moaning noise, trying to breathe real hard.''

The players also said Plancher, a 19-year-old receiver from Naples, fell during one run.

``The coaches were yelling at him to get up, and of course, he came in last,'' one of the players said.

Golden Knights coach George O'Leary disputed the players' account.

``I did not see him struggle on the field,'' O'Leary said. ``From my professional opinion, what should have been done for his care was being done.''

The players said they came forward because they were upset about the school's portrayal of a ``10 minute, 26 second'' workout that included a ``weights component.''

That's how athletic director Keith Tribble described it a few hours after Plancher's death. Associate athletic director David Chambers clarified Tribble's statement a week later, saying the workout lasted about 20 minutes.

Players, though, said the mat drills included:

-Multiple agility work stations that lasted 5 minutes each.

-Two runs on a 200-yard obstacle course.

-Two timed sprints from sideline to sideline.

They said those drills, conducted in the team's indoor practice facility, came after players lifted weights for an hour.

The four players told the Sentinel that O'Leary singled out Plancher during a team huddle and cursed at him for lack of effort during the final sprint. O'Leary denied cursing at Plancher, but recalled telling people around him, ``He's better than that.''

Plancher was noticeably woozy and staggering as he tried to participate in the final jumping-jacks drill, the players said. The team finished those exercises, then huddled again. Plancher collapsed while walking away from the final huddle, the players said.

O'Leary said the team trainer and an assistant coach tried to give Plancher water. Players carried Plancher outside and waited for an ambulance to arrive while trainers began rescue breathing and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, called 911 and attached an automated external defibrillator.

UCF police arrived at 10:52 a.m. and found Plancher unconscious and lying on a bench. He was taken to Florida Hospital East and pronounced dead at 11:51 a.m.