A former football coach at Bucknell University has been charged with felony hazing in connection with the death of one of the program's players. The charge marks a significant development in a case that has drawn attention to the treatment of young athletes and to the circumstances surrounding a workout that ended in tragedy.
The player at the center of the case was C.J. Dickey, who collapsed during his first workout with the team back in 2024. What was supposed to be an introduction to college football training instead turned into a medical emergency, and the young athlete did not survive, leaving his family searching for answers.
For Dickey's relatives, the criminal charge follows their own belief about what happened. His family has said they think their son was hazed and that the tragedy was something that was completely avoidable, framing his death not as a freak accident but as the result of how the workout was conducted.
Those claims were laid out in detail in a lawsuit filed by the family. According to the suit, strength and conditioning coach Mark Holbis forced Dickey to perform so-called burpees, the up-and-down exercises that combine a squat, a plank and a jump, in a manner the family has pointed to as central to what went wrong during the session.
The physical toll of the workout proved severe. Dickey was later rushed to the hospital and treated for rhabdomyolysis, often shortened to rhabdo, a condition caused by extreme exertion that leads to the breakdown of muscle tissue. The condition is dangerous because it can trigger kidney failure and abnormal heart rhythms.
Despite the efforts to save him, the situation could not be reversed. Medical responders worked to resuscitate the player after he was stricken, but the extreme strain his body had endured during the exercises had already set off the life-threatening complications associated with the condition.
With the felony hazing charge now filed, the case moves into the criminal justice system, adding a new dimension to a story that had until now largely played out through the family's civil lawsuit. The developments keep a spotlight on how strength and conditioning programs push new athletes, and on the responsibility of those overseeing them when a workout turns deadly.