A family friend of the Kennedys says he is wracked by guilt because he threw the last pass to Michael Kennedy, who hit a tree and died during a football-on-skis game, The Denver Post reported Tuesday.
Michael Kennedy, 39, died on New Year's Eve in Aspen, Colo.Blake Fleetwood, who has skied with the Kennedys for more than 20 years, told the newspaper he passed the foam football to Kennedy, who was ahead of everybody and looking back.
"I've been wracked about this, the guilt," he said. "I have this majestic view of Michael going out for a pass. I ask, `What if? What if?' "
Published reports have said Aspen Ski Co. officials asked the Kennedys to stop playing the dangerous game. Aspen officials said they would have no comment on Kennedy's death.
"Nobody ever told us not to play the game," Fleetwood said. "The game had been played for 20 years. In fact, a ski patrol member played in the game on Monday."