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Attorney for family of Maryland player who died calls on school to fire DJ Durkin
By Andrew Olson
Published:
The attorney for the family of Jordan McNair, the Maryland player who died after participating in a team workout on May 29, has called on the school to fire coach D.J. Durkin. Maryland placed Durkin on administrative leave Saturday.
Attorney Billy Murphy told ESPN that he saw three reasons for Durkin’s firing, believing that placing the coach on administrative leave did not go far enough.
“No. 1, what he did, No. 2, what he didn’t do, and No. 3, the impact on this football program,” Murphy said.
Durkin and his staff are under intense scrutiny for how the May 29 workout was handled. Murphy’s firm is investigating the events of May 29 for the McNair firm. Their investigation has found that an unexplained and unaccounted for 58 minutes exists in the timeline between McNair suffered a seizure (5 p.m.) and the time 911 was called (5:58 p.m.). McNair arrived at the hospital with a reported temperature of 106 degrees. He later died of heat stroke after being transferred to a trauma center. Heatstroke can occur at 104 degrees or higher.
Murphy says the family is “leaning” toward filing a lawsuit and evaluating legal options.
Maryland is conducting its own investigation into McNair’s death, hiring veteran athletic trainer Rod Walters. The school placed three other training/strength and conditioning staffers on administrative leave in addition to Durkin.
A former Florida beat reporter, Andrew writes for the Saturday Tradition News Desk.