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In 1986, Maryland lost one of its most legendary athletes after Len Bias passed away two days following his No. 2 selection by the Boston Celtics. It was an incident the university vowed would never happen again.
Yet 32 years later, offensive lineman Jordan McNair died following an offseason football workout. Tragedy struck again.
While both athletes died due to different circumstances, the fallout effects from both incidents were similar. This week, the Under the Shell Podcast completes a months-long deep dive to examine the long-term impact of both situations.
“If I were a university president, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night,” Robert Dorfamn, who led a task force investigation into the academic performances of Maryland athletics following Bias’ death, said. “You never know when you wake up in the morning what the athletes have done.”
The death of Bias resulted in two separate task forces — Dorfman’s investigation into academics and one on drug use throughout campus. The recommendations made by the task forces hampered the Terps’ ability to recruit high-level athletes, with a decreased athletic budget and focus toward promoting academics. Fan attendance dipped along with the Terps’ playing performance.
“It really affected the whole athletic program,” former Baltimore Sun writer Don Markus said. “They had to get over a lot of negative recruiting that was going on.”
McNair’s death resulted in a $3.5 million settlement with McNair’s family, as well as a separate settlement with two football players for $200,000 each. The Terps also lost money in ticket sales and resulted in the firings of multiple athletic staff members, including head coach DJ Durkin, strength coach Rick Court and other training staff members.
“It felt like an adversarial environment where it was the coaches versus the players,” former offensive lineman Ellis McKennie said. “They told us that we weren’t worth a damn thing and they knew what was right.”
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