30 biggest college football scandals of all time
By Ethan Lee
Notre Dame student dies while filming football practice
Declan Sullivan didn’t seem to like the idea of filming Notre Dame’s football practice from a tower while wind gusts exceeding 50 miles per hour.
The 20-year-old who was filming football practices for the team was informed that the team would be practicing outside Oct. 27, 2011. He subsequently tweeted ”Gusts of wind up to 60 mph. Well today will be fun at work. I guess I’ve lived long enough.” Not long after that, with Sullivan still on the hydraulic scissor lift, a strong wind knocked the lift over.
He was taken to a local hospital but reportedly stopped breathing on the way there.
The Indiana Occupational Health and Safety Administration fined Notre Dame for multiple safety violations connected to Sullivan’s death.
One of those violations happened to be “knowingly putting its employees in an unsafe situation,” according to ESPN. According to a report by the Chicago Tribune, an investigation by Notre Dame found that there was nobody acting with disregard for safety.
But it’s hard to argue that Sullivan’s death couldn’t have been prevented. Had Notre Dame simply practiced inside, this incident never happens.