Enough is enough: NCAA must make sickle cell testing mandatory

Bennie Abram wanted to be a Rebel. More than most, really. You don't turn down full rides for a chance at playing for Ole Miss.

But that was Bennie, a kid from Southaven, Miss. with a 4.0 GPA in high school and a 3.45 in junior college. Whatever happened at Mississippi, it wasn't going to be because Bennie Abram III, a walk-on, didn't try.

Ole Miss tests for sickle cell trait, but it's unknown whether Bennie Abram tested positive. (AP)

"It was God first, school, then football," his father said. "He was always brought up that way."

"He was probably almost a billboard what college athletics is all about," his junior college coach said.

"I thought about it over the last few days," said Jon Williams, who coached Abram as an assistant at Itawamba Community College. "I can't think of one negative thing about Bennie."

No one could. That's what makes the end of Bennie's life last week so tragic. Long after he is buried Monday, there will be questions that resonate way beyond his native Mississippi, Ole Miss, college football, possibly all the way to the NCAA.

Abram had to know the odds were long when he came to Oxford, Miss. as a junior college walk-on from tiny Itawamba. Little did he know the odds would be stacked higher against him at the beginning of a workout a week ago. Abram collapsed shortly after an early morning offseason workout last Friday. Six hours later, he was dead.

His family, friends, school officials and the county coroner still don't know exactly why.

"Here I am a 35-year old guy who says every day I'm going to get in shape," said Lafayette County [Miss.] coroner Rocky Kennedy. "Here you have this young man who is dedicated and working out and lifting. It's such a tragic event."

Kennedy says call back in two weeks, the autopsy might be finished. But the scene painted by witnesses, medical personnel and news accounts that day makes it look suspiciously like Abram's death was caused by sickle cell trait. Abram collapsed early in the workout for no apparent reason after the beginning of an offseason workout.

Sickle cell trait happens to be the leading killer of Division I football players since 2000. If he did die from the condition, Abram would be the ninth such victim in that time. Sickle cell is an inherited condition that occurs in approximately 8 percent (one in 12) of the country's African-American population. Caucasians are susceptible at a much lower rate.

"That [sickle cell trait] was one of the first questions I asked at the hospital, going through the process," Kennedy said.

Bennie Abram Jr. told CBSSports.com that there is a history of sickle cell trait in the family. Ole Miss tests for the condition but it was not clear if Abram had tested positive. When Abram was brought to the hospital, he was conscious but developed a fever and was hypothermic before going into cardiac arrest, according to team doctor Jeffrey Dennis. Dennis speculated in one report that an "infectious process" could be involved.

We can only hope there are no more Bennie Abrams -- ever. No matter how he died, college football and the NCAA have been slow to react and deal with sickle cell trait. That cannot be denied. Abram's passing comes at a time when the NCAA is considering mandating all schools test for sickle cell trait. Legislation is being considering that would take effect in August.

That's assuming the legislation, that was introduced last month, passes. The proposal is currently in the review and comment stage. Compare that to the urgency shown when widespread recruiting abuses threatened the integrity of the sport a few years ago. Former NCAA president Myles Brand pushed through emergency legislation. Meanwhile, only 60 percent of schools even perform the relatively inexpensive test on players for sickle cell trait.

It's to the point now that the question has to be asked: How many will die until testing becomes NCAA law? Thirty-five years after the first death by sickle cell trait was recognized by the NCAA, the association formally agreed last year to the small step of recommending testing to its members. That move only came about because of a settlement of a lawsuit regarding a Rice player who died because of the condition.

Even then it would take coaches and their trainers to be educated more about the condition. You can play with sickle cell trait, easily. Oklahoma takes pride in having won championships with such players. Sooners head trainer Scott Anderson is a leading authority on the effects of sickle cell trait on athletes.

On the opposite side is Central Florida, which is fighting a wrongful death lawsuit filed after the death of Ereck Plancher two years ago. Affected players must be gradually introduced into strenuous exercise. If not, blood cells can "sickle" causing a log jam in vessels that restricts blood flow. In college football, the recent deaths have been caused by players who did too much, too fast, usually in preseason conditioning drills. Abram was involved in Ole Miss' first team morning run of the offseason, according to trainer Shannon Singletary.

When Abram collapsed, Ole Miss seemed more prepared than many schools. The workouts were monitored by emergency personnel. An ambulance was on the scene within 11 minutes, according to Singletary.

Meanwhile, the visitation is Sunday. Twenty-four hours later, Bennie Abram III will be buried. Ole Miss will try to get past more tragedy. It's been almost 21 years since Chucky Mullins died. Mullins became a quadriplegic in 1991, the result of a football injury. Coach Houston Nutt had to be reminded of the death of Arkansas' Brandon Burlsworth, killed in a traffic accident in 1999 while Nutt was with the Hogs.

Bennie's younger brothers, Bradley and Preston, will remember how they grew up together playing football. Bennie's coaches will celebrate his smarts and his spirit.

"Bennie gave us 20 years of love and just being there," Bennie Abram Jr.

A school, the public, a sport, perhaps even the family, will still have questions.