By BRADY BAUMAN
NFL fans had to deal with troubling news today, as former All-Pro NFL linebacker Junior Seau was found dead in his Southern California home Wednesday morning. Police officers found Seau with a gun-shot wound to the chest and the weapon on the floor next to the body. For now, it seems evident it may have been a suicide.
Long time San Diego Chargers and former New England Patriots linebacker Junior Seau celebrates after the Patriots won the AFC title in 2007. Seau was found dead in his home Wednesday morning from an apparent self-inflicted gun-shot wound.
It’s a great loss for the NFL community. Seau, who was drafted in the first round with the fifth overall pick in the 1990 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers, was a fan favorite and immediate threat to offenses throughout his 19-year career. Seau was selected to the Pro Bowl 12 consecutive times and as an All-Pro 10 times. He was selected as a part of the 1990’s All-Decade Team as chosen by voters from the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was the AFC Player of the Year in 1994.
For his career, Seau amassed 1,849 tackles, 56 1/2 sacks, 18 interceptions, three forced fumbles and 21 pass deflections. Seau spent 12 years with the Chargers and then was traded to the Miami Dolphins, where he played from 2003-2005. Seau announced he would retire in 2006, but four days later returned to the field after the New England Patriots requested his services. He played for New England for three years and officially retired in 2009.
A Junior Seau rookie card from the 1990 edition of Pro Set. One would have been hard-pressed to find a boy in the 90’s that didn’t have a few Pro Set football cards laying around.
On a personal note, it’s incredibly sad to see Seau go like this. As an avid football card collector as a kid — all of which I still have at my parent’s house… much to their dismay — I had numerous cards of Seau. And it was hard to miss him on the field, too. He was fast, he was bruising and was a constant pain in the side to my mom’s die-hard favorite team, the Kansas City Chiefs.
Seau was a big part of football in the 1990’s. And for any kid that grew up in the 1990’s, it’s always weird hearing about a fixture of that time passing. It’s even more sad considering the fact it looks as if it was a suicide. To make this tragedy more puzzling and sad, he was voted the Chargers’ Most Inspirational Player in 1997 and again in 2002.
This tragedy will no doubt run over into the current safety debate being had in the NFL, as the Seau death has many similarities with the suicide by former Bears defensive back Dave Duerson, who also shot himself in the chest.
Obviously, the links to head trauma to later feelings of depression, and other ailments, cannot be ignored, but my hope is that this tragedy doesn’t further water down the NFL. As the league continues to make it’s billions, more and more players will come to the sport with law suits, but I doubt Seau would want the game played any differently. He lived and breathed it, and it was obvious he had fun out there.
Hopefully, the NFL honors Seau by allowing the game to be played the way he played it.
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