By Tyler O’Hara
In early May, former University of Illinois football player Simon Cvijanovic tweeted a series of allegations regarding abusive behavior by head football coach Tim Beckman. Among the allegations cited, Cvijanovic accused Beckman of physically attacking a player, pressuring injured players to play or quit, withholding medical information, and overruling doctors’ orders of recovery time. After Cvijanovic’s initial tweets, former Beckman player Nick North also came forward with similar accusations regarding abusive behavior involving scholarships and injuries.
Responding to the allegations against Beckman in a teleconference later that week, Illinois Athletic Director Mike Thomas’ stated that he was unaware of any mistreatment of players under Beckman during the coach’s time at either Illinois or the University of Toledo, where Beckman previously coached. After Thomas’ comments, Illinois chancellor Phyllis Wise made a statement that the number one priority of Thomas and his staff has always been the health and well-being of Illinois student-athletes. However, as a result of the seriousness of these allegations, both Wise and Thomas are working on conducting an external review.
National College Players Association Seeks Independent Investigation
In light of these accusations, executive director of the National College Players Association (NCPA), Ramogi Huma, released a letter addressing Chancellor Wise, calling for the school to commission an immediate independent investigation into the matter. Additionally, Huma’s letter stated that if the alleged incidents were verified that the school should terminate the employment of any university official directly involved in abusing players, require university staff to report suspected or verified abuse of any kind, and to ensure all students have the ability to anonymously report suspected or verified abuse to a university official. While acknowledging that the University was reviewing the incidents in question, Huma believed further action must be taken, writing that Thomas’ statements have “compromised the integrity of his review by making conclusions before he collected any evidence to back his conclusions. . . . it is unreasonable to expect players who may be subject to abusive treatment to speak honestly to athletic program and university officials that can easily identify them.” Solomon, CBSSports.com (May 2015).
Though the public is still waiting for more information to come forward as a result of the external review, Huma and the NCPA have played a prominent role in attempting to provide better protections for student-athletes elsewhere in Illinois. Most recently, Northwestern University is currently awaiting a decision by the National Labor Relations Board regarding an appeal of an NLRB regional director ruling that determined that scholarship football players at the University are employees. Huma would likely argue that this determination is exactly the kind of step required to help protect student-athletes from the conduct alleged against Beckman. While the argument on whether student-athletes should be considered employees is a contentious one, both sides would surely agree that protecting the well-being of student-athletes is of the up-most importance. Whether or not the NCPA will pursue legal action regarding the claims of Cvijanovic and North will strongly depend on the outcome of the external review and whether or not the NCPA finds the review to be adequate.
O’Hara is a 2016 J.D. Candidate at the University of North Carolina School of Law.
