Notre Dame Victim's Friends Won't Point Fingers

Many questions remain about the death of a Notre Dame junior who was videotaping football practice Wednesday when high winds toppled the hydraulic tower he was on, sending him to his death.

But two of Declan Sullivan's best friends chose not to focus on those questions when asked about them by "Early Show on Saturday Morning" co-anchor Chris Wragge.

Sullivan, 20, of Long Grove, Ill, was to be honored by a moment of silence when the Fighting Irish took the field Saturday, and players were to wear decals on their helmets in his memory.

The pep rally was cancelled Friday night.

Lingering questions, notes CBS News Correspondent Cynthia Bowers, include whether Sullivan should have been taping in such severe weather conditions, and why the team practiced outdoors Wedesday but indoors the day before due to the same high winds.

Wragge pointed out to one of Sullivan's closest friends, Maurice Baynard, that the school in general and first-year football head coach Brian Kelly in particular are under the microscope in the wake of Sullivan's demise.

"I'm not sure whose job it is to make those decisions," Baynard said, "but it's just a freak accident. There's really nothing you could do to try to prevent it. There's really no use going back with what-ifs."

Another best friend of Sullivan's, Chris Cornejo, called Sullivan's death "a terrible incident. Declan Sullivan was my best friend at Notre Dame and we had so many good times together, and I got the chance to be his roommate. We were gonna live together next year. And, you just, you can't prepare for things like these. It's just a horrible circumstance, and I want to go ahead and pray for his family and make sure everyone keeps them in their prayers."

Cornejo was at practice that day. "I happened to look up," he recalled, "and there was a huge gust of wind, and I saw the tower tip over. And I saw it land over the fence and, at that point, I ran over to the street and I stood by him for a couple minutes. I was ten feet away. And I waited until the ambulance came and, at that point, I rushed over to (the) hospital and it was at that point that I -- they told me that he didn't make it."

He added, "You know, regardless of (who was in) a position (to keep Sullivan frm taping that day) or (whether) a decision should have been made or a certain action (prevented), it won't take -- it won't take back the fact that Declan's no longer with us. And it's extremely upsetting, but what we have to do now is just keep him in our hearts and keep looking forward, and we'll all get through this."