Parents of deceased freshman football player file lawsuit against Bucknell University.

Price-Caspino to represent the Dickey Family in their pursuit of answers and justice.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Press Contact: Mike Dunn, mdunn@ceislermedia.com, (215) 570-3432

Attorneys Michael Caspino and Stuart Price announced today the filing of a civil suit on behalf of Nicole and Calvin Dickey Sr. against Bucknell University related to the wrongful death of their son, Calvin “CJ” Dickey Jr.

“CJ brightened every room he entered, and he put a smile on the face of each person he met,” said Nicole Dickey. “Now, because of Bucknell’s reckless disregard for our son’s health, the world is forever robbed of CJ’s light. While nothing that Bucknell can do will bring our son back, we deserve answers.”

In July 2024, CJ, a Bucknell University freshman football player, collapsed from sickle cell-related rhabdomyolysis (rhabdo) during the team’s first workout. He was immediately hospitalized.  He died two days later.

Rhabdomyolosis is the medical term for when muscle breaks down and dies. Athletes who are positive for the sickle cell trait may develop rhabdo when excessive exertion causes their red blood cells to “sickle,” assuming a moon shape. Those cells create a logjam in the capillaries, blocking the flow of oxygen and causing the muscles to break down. The muscles then release toxins that can cause organ damage and even death.

“The death of a child is always a tragedy, but CJ’s death is particularly tragic because it was 100% preventable," said Michael Caspino, one of the attorneys for the Dickey Family, "The NCAA educates its members on rhabdo prevention, leading many programs to implement stringent precautions to protect their players. If Bucknell had followed the NCAA’s most basic recommendations, CJ would today be working toward his college degree. His death is inexcusable. Equally horrific is Bucknell’s refusal to provide details on what happened that day. This litigation seeks the answers that these parents deserve."

Prior to joining the football team, CJ tested positive for sickle cell trait, and Bucknell's athletics department was notified. To protect athletes like CJ, the NCAA provides informational materials for coaches and trainers, advising precautions such as allowing athletes with the sickle trait to set their own pace, ensuring adequate rest, and excusing them from strenuous performance tests like sprints.

“As Nicole and I try to grapple with our new reality, the first thing we want are answers about what happened,” said Calvin Dickey Sr. “We want to know how this was allowed to happen, and so far, Bucknell has not answered any of our questions. We also want Bucknell to take responsibility for CJ’s death. CJ did not have to die, and the blame lays solely on the university.

Finally, we want Bucknell to sponsor education programs to ensure that no other college athlete is subjected to the pain and suffering that CJ experienced.”

For more than 50 years, experts have known that the sickle cell trait increases the risk and severity of rhabdo. In 2010, the NCAA mandated sickle cell testing for all Division I, II, and III football players due to the increased risks. Through this lawsuit, the Dickey family hopes to prevent other families from experiencing the same tragic loss.

The lawsuit was filed today in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court. The suit seeks to compel Bucknell University to do the following:

• Disclose every detail of the events that led to CJ’s death.

• Publicly take responsibility for CJ’s death.

• Compensate the Dickey family for the death of their son.

• Sponsor initiatives designed to ensure no other college athlete suffers a similar fate.

“The NCAA has detailed guidelines to ensure the safety of sickle positive athletes,” said attorney Stuart Price. “The protocols are well known and, except for Bucknell, universally followed.  The NCAA requires coaches training sickle positive athletes to allow them to set their own pace in early practices, to avoid “mat drills” like up downs, and to have an athletic trainer present for every workout. Bucknell followed none of those guidelines. The coach running the workout made CJ do the same brutal workout to which the entire team was subjected, pushed him to do more than 100 up-downs, and had no athletic trainer present. Bucknell literally worked CJ to death.”

A full recording of the press conference is available here.