RIP Junior Seau

[Jeff N.]

They're shocked here in SD, myself included. Jeez. RIP, #55. Jeff N.

[firerescuefin]

Shot himself a la Dave Duerson (Chicago Bears) in the chest. Duerson asked that his brain be studied for the effects of post concussion syndrome. They found severe abnormalities in Duerson's case.....it will not surprise me if Seau left the same instructions.

Tragic...a very sad day. RIP Junior...thoughts and prayers to your family.

[chwupper]

Shot himself a la Dave Duerson (Chicago Bears) in the chest. Duerson asked that his brain be studied for the effects of post concussion syndrome. They found severe abnormalities in Duerson's case.....it will not surprise me if Seau left the same instructions.

Tragic...a very sad day. RIP Junior...thoughts and prayers to your family.

I wondered the same thing about brain damage, depression, etc etc etc.

Very sad. He was fun to watch.

[Louis]

That's terrible. RIP.

Perhaps at some point the NFL (and football in general) will admit that they have a problem. Until then, sign those big fat TV contracts.

[fiamme red]

Wasn't he in the news a few years ago for driving his car off a cliff?

[jpw]

That's terrible. RIP.

Perhaps at some point the NFL (and football in general) will admit that they have a problem. Until then, sign those big fat TV contracts.

$egal $iability - they will not admit to anything.

[4Rings6Stars]

Wasn't he in the news a few years ago for driving his car off a cliff?

Yes...something to do with a domestic dispute I think?

We loved him in NE.

RIP Junior

[NextTime]

Hope he hasn't been suffering from head injuries. RIP.

[MattTuck]

Don't know much about him, but I know he was loved by New Englanders when he was here, and that people from San Diego REALLY loved him.

[sonoray]

As a kid growing up in San Diego, he was definitely our neighborhood hero during the football months. Our other hero, Tony Gwynn. San Diego's two classiest acts of all time!!

RIP #55, future HOF. Can I get an Amen?!?

[killacks]

Sad news, indeed.

619, 858...!

[Louis]

Given the circumstances, I doubt the "falling asleep" part.

Though remembered as a hard-hitting, inspirational linebacker, Seau did not have a documented history of concussions. He missed several games in his career with leg and chest injuries.

In October 2010, he sustained minor injuries when he drove his S.U.V. off a 30-foot bluff after being arrested on suspicion of domestic assault. The police said he fell asleep at the wheel.

[Viper]

Yes...something to do with a domestic dispute I think?

We loved him in NE.

RIP Junior

I was watching ESPN at the time, I think it was 2010. Seau was arrested for a felony of domestic abuse related to his young girlfriend. He was released and he drove his truck off a cliff. Some claimed then it was a suicide attempt, his stance was he fell asleep at the wheel.

Today, Seau's suicide marks the tragic end; all sudden-death and nearly every death contains deep sorrow for the surviving loved ones. Suicide. The word creates a long mental pause as you try to imagine the level of pain one must've been within to cease breathing, living.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykIj190mJek

Michael Hutchence, Seau and some, get stuck in a moment. Sad.

[Bruce K]

Very sad.

I loved watching him on the football feild and on the sports show where he did various jobs such as caddy, hockey equipment guy, and Indy Car pit crew.

It seems he was one of those guys that didn't know what to do with his life once the pads were hung up for good. That's when it all seemed to go wrong.

Again, very sad.

BK

[Jeff N.]

Suicide=Permanent solution to what is probably a temporary problem if dealt with properly.

[FlashUNC]

I'd be shocked if brain injury/mental illness was not a part of this.

[Elefantino]

I'd be shocked if brain injury/mental illness was not a part of this.
But not to worry. The NFL made a lot of money off his performances.

The league is giving what many neurologists say is lip service to the problem of safety equipment not keeping pace with the increasing speed of the violence.

[Ray]

Suicide=Permanent solution to what is probably a temporary problem if dealt with properly.

But in the case of severe brain injury with many other ex-NFL players, it hasn't been a temporary problem at all.

I keep trying to wean myself off of watching football. I hate what a brutal game its become and realistically always has been. These consequences only make it worse. But I played in high school and its so much a part of the culture that every autumn when it starts getting cold, it just seems inevitable that I get sucked back into it. Not as a hardcore fan, but I watch it and follow it and have an opinion about it. Damn.

-Ray

[Hawker]

A darn shame. How do you begin to address this problem? A lack of morals and character in the players? Too much money in the game? Or perhaps a substantial revision of the rules and the game itself?

[ahmose]

RIP. Truly shocking news.
On the same day that the NFL hands out the penalties for "bounty gate".
Bad week for the NFL.

[cat6]

Hayrick Island (68°42′S 67°32′WCoordinates: 68°42′S 67°32′W) is a small prominent rock mass, more than 150 metres (500 ft) high, between Lodge Rock and Twig Rock in the Terra Firma Islands, off the west coast of Graham Land, Antarctica.

[nahtnoj]

A darn shame. How do you begin to address this problem? A lack of morals and character in the players? Too much money in the game? Or perhaps a substantial revision of the rules and the game itself?

By the time the players get to the NFL its 15 years too late. Start with the parents and coaches of 6 year olds and you may wind up with a solution one day.

[Cloud]

Geeze, how sad and unexpected. I loved growing up watching Seau.

[banosser]

Just another reason I don't push my kids into playing football...

RIP Junior

[spamjoshua]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_traumatic_encephalopathy

Football players.
Hockey Enforcers.

A huge number of our troops coming home with hidden wounds resulting from percussive shockwaves (shells, bombs, etc.)

It all needs more attention than it gets.

[tuxbailey]

By the time the players get to the NFL its 15 years too late. Start with the parents and coaches of 6 year olds and you may wind up with a solution one day.

I don't think the problem can be solved as long as professional/college football are enjoyed by the millions.

If one set of parents decided to let their kids participate because they are wary of potential injuries, there are always replacements who would view this as opportunities to get scholarship or the golden ticket to make fortunes.

[Tom]

Take the helmets and the pads off... oh, wait, that'd be rugby.

That thing they have on the Fox telecasts is kind of creepy. A machine representation of a football player. It's creepy because that's exactly what the football game becomes at the highest level. The idea is that the players are not humans, they are cartoon figures for our amusement. Note the penalties for taking your helmet off... whatever you do, don't reveal that there is an actual human being in there.

[FlashUNC]

All the data is beginning to show that its not the big hits that are the problem. The sport itself is what breaks people's brains.

Maybe Teddy Roosevelt was on the right track when he tried to get the sport outlawed...

[ahsere]

He was very well liked in NE during his Patriots stint, he seemed to be a genuinely nice guy, the epitome of the rugged veteran who can be a leader due to his experience while still playing well, I remember feeling very sad for him specifically when they lost in the Super Bowl, after he came out of retirement to try and win here, etc. Apparently he took a few too many hard hits to the head, it's becoming more and more clear that football and hockey among other sports need to evolve to avoid having so many cases of brain damage. When I saw the news I immediately remembered a recent article on the NYT about a Canadian kid who was a fearsome enforcer in the NHL, dead at 28 or so with serious brain issues.

[lwkwafi]

This was a terribly sad AP Mobile news alert to receive. I loved Junior growing up.

[ahmose]

This is a great read:
http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2012/05/junior_seau_dead_will_the_latest_football_suicide_ finally_change_how_we_think_about_the_nfl_.html

[PQJ]

A darn shame. How do you begin to address this problem? A lack of morals and character in the players? Too much money in the game? Or perhaps a substantial revision of the rules and the game itself?
.

How about a lack of character and morals in society at large, together with too much $$, too much greed, and $$ as the pinnacle of modern achievement? We reap what we sow. Junior is us and we are him.

[fiamme red]

NFL players also suffer permanent damage to other parts of the body, not just the brain, that leaves many of them debilitated for life, often addicted to painkillers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/ray-lucas-hopes-others-learn-from-his-recovery-from-addiction-to-prescription-painkillers/2012/05/03/gIQAJ4AVyT_story.html

Ray Lucas still has his share of bad days, when his body aches and his mind wanders to the dark place he once thought he’d never leave.

The former NFL quarterback is a recovering addict. And, he cherishes the chance to open his eyes in the morning. After all, for Lucas, dying once seemed a lot easier than living...

The 39-year-old Lucas struggled for years with an addiction to prescription painkillers. He shares his story as a cautionary tale to NFL rookies and veterans alike — and to help people struggling with addictions...

A deep depression led to suicidal thoughts. He told HBO’s “Real Sports” last year that he tried to end it all one day by planning to drive his car off the George Washington Bridge.

“That’s the public version, but there were many other times where I tried to do it myself by taking 50 pills a night and praying that I wouldn’t wake up because life wasn’t worth living,” Lucas said. “I wasn’t living. I was killing myself from the inside.”

[pdmtong]

Grieving for a fellow player is, sadly, nothing new for members of the 1994 San Diego Chargers. Legendary linebacker Junior Seau, who was found dead Wednesday of an apparent suicide, is now the eighth player from that team to die.The 1994 Chargers, a group of gritty overachievers, are the only edition of the team to make the Super Bowl. But instead of that feat being the team's legacy, many are wondering about the string of freakish deaths that have haunted the AFC championship team.

"Not again," former Chargers running back Natrone Means said to the San Diego Union-Tribune after one of the deaths in 2008. "It's crazy, just crazy, that we've had so many guys who have fallen. I can't make any sense of it. I've given up trying. You just hope you quit getting these random messages out of nowhere that another teammate has passed away."

The tragic list includes:

-- In 1995, about five months after the Chargers lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, linebacker David Griggs died in a car crash. He was 28.

-- In May 1996, running back Rodney Culver died in a plane crash. He was 26.

-- In July 1998, linebacker Doug Miller died after being struck by lightning while camping. He was 28.

-- In May 2008, center Curtis Whitley was found dead of a drug overdose. He was 39.

-- In October 2008, defensive end Chris Mims died of complications from an enlarged heart. He was 38.

-- In February 2011, defensive tackle Shawn Lee died of a heart attack. He was 44.

-- In December, linebacker Lew Bush died of a heart attack. He was 42.

Then Wednesday, tragedy hit the team and the NFL community again when Seau was found dead in a bedroom of his Oceanside, California, home. A handgun was found near his body. He was 43

[tannhauser]

Grieving for a fellow player is, sadly, nothing new for members of the 1994 San Diego Chargers. Legendary linebacker Junior Seau, who was found dead Wednesday of an apparent suicide, is now the eighth player from that team to die.The 1994 Chargers, a group of gritty overachievers, are the only edition of the team to make the Super Bowl. But instead of that feat being the team's legacy, many are wondering about the string of freakish deaths that have haunted the AFC championship team.

"Not again," former Chargers running back Natrone Means said to the San Diego Union-Tribune after one of the deaths in 2008. "It's crazy, just crazy, that we've had so many guys who have fallen. I can't make any sense of it. I've given up trying. You just hope you quit getting these random messages out of nowhere that another teammate has passed away."

The tragic list includes:

-- In 1995, about five months after the Chargers lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, linebacker David Griggs died in a car crash. He was 28.

-- In May 1996, running back Rodney Culver died in a plane crash. He was 26.

-- In July 1998, linebacker Doug Miller died after being struck by lightning while camping. He was 28.

-- In May 2008, center Curtis Whitley was found dead of a drug overdose. He was 39.

-- In October 2008, defensive end Chris Mims died of complications from an enlarged heart. He was 38.

-- In February 2011, defensive tackle Shawn Lee died of a heart attack. He was 44.

-- In December, linebacker Lew Bush died of a heart attack. He was 42.

Then Wednesday, tragedy hit the team and the NFL community again when Seau was found dead in a bedroom of his Oceanside, California, home. A handgun was found near his body. He was 43

Aside from the absolutely freak accidents of the players in the 90s, the effects of drug use and emphasis on size + speed seem to start reaching a breaking point about 10 years later, but I'm sure the effects were felt all along.

Bill Romanowski lives around here; he actually looks very small with a small waist. It's not uncommon for ex-linemen to lose 100+lbs.

The size + speed + athletic component of all sports means increasing incidents of injury, but to the forefront right now are the NHL and NBA playoffs. Just wow. When concussions are a regular occurrence in basketball you know the game has changed.

[FlashUNC]

Aside from the absolutely freak accidents of the players in the 90s, the effects of drug use and emphasis on size + speed seem to start reaching a breaking point about 10 years later, but I'm sure the effects were felt all along.

Bill Romanowski lives around here; he actually looks very small with a small waist. It's not uncommon for ex-linemen to lose 100+lbs.

The size + speed + athletic component of all sports means increasing incidents of injury, but to the forefront right now are the NHL and NBA playoffs. Just wow. When concussions are a regular occurrence in basketball you know the game has changed.

What concussions are you referring to in the NBA? Most recent one I've seen is Ron Artest's ludicrous intetional elbow to James Harden's head, but the league is a far cry from the Bad Boys and Kurt Rambis.

[tannhauser]

What concussions are you referring to in the NBA? Most recent one I've seen is Ron Artest's ludicrous intetional elbow to James Harden's head, but the league is a far cry from the Bad Boys and Kurt Rambis.
Andrew Bogut – MIL – 1/16/12
Jameer Nelson – ORL – 1/27/12
Kyrie Irving – CLE – 2/7/12
Lazar Hayward – OKC – 2/20/12 – Fink’s Rule
Jason Smith – NO – 2/22/12
C.J. Watson – CHI – 2/22/12
Kobe Bryant – LAL – 2/29/12
Brandon Wright – DAL – 3/5/12
Rudy Gay – MIL – 3/12/12
Mickeal Pietrus – BOS – 3/24/12
Eduardo Najera – CHA – 4/7/12
Kevin Love – MIN – 4/11/12
Reggie Williams – CHA – 4/17/12
Chris Johnson – NO – 4/18/12
Andris Biedrens – GS – 4/22/12
James Harden – OKC – 4/22/12

[fourflys]

Bill Romanowski lives around here; he actually looks very small with a small waist. It's not uncommon for ex-linemen to lose 100+lbs.
.

Romo's a whole different story... he's still a workout freak...

[fiamme red]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/11/sports/football/junior-seau-suffered-from-brain-disease.html

The former N.F.L. linebacker Junior Seau had a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma when he committed suicide in the spring, the National Institutes of Health said Thursday.

The findings were consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease widely connected to athletes who have absorbed frequent blows to the head, the N.I.H. said in a statement. Seau is the latest and most prominent player to be associated with the disease, which has bedeviled football in recent years as a proliferation of studies has exposed the possible long-term cognitive impact of head injuries sustained on the field...

[Louis]

I saw that.

Football is a nasty sport, even when done properly, but there's too much money in it, and guys will continue to play, and folks will continue to watch (and cheer the big hits).

[jet sanchez]

I saw that.

Football is a nasty sport, even when done properly, but there's too much money in it, and guys will continue to play, and folks will continue to watch (and cheer the big hits).

I think there will be some very big changes sooner rather than later. Who would let their kid play football now? The game will have to change or die out.

[Fixed]

Brain injuries people look at you and say you are fine but upstairs things can be a mess there is a lot of mental anguish with t.b.i.

[Ray]

I think there will be some very big changes sooner rather than later. Who would let their kid play football now? The game will have to change or die out.

I hope you're right, but from what I understand, pee wee football is more popular than ever. I never played past high school and back in the '70s we weren't as big or fast or conditioned like todays HS players, let alone college or pro players. And even at my level, as a mediocre defensive back, playing HS football was the most violent, painful, and damaging thing I've done in my life (having been lucky enough not to have had to fought a war). I still have little aches and pains I attribute to football injuries. I KNOW I had a couple of concussions and very likely more. I remember (although fuzzily) head first hits at speed that did a lot of damage to the guys I hit and a lot of damage to me. Having trouble finding the huddle after the play, being lost for minutes at a time. I'm just EXTREMELY glad I wasn't good enough to play past high school.

I think I got out of it without any real lasting damage (but then I don't have an alternative adult version of me who DIDN'T play to compare myself to), but people that are good enough to play in college, where the game is that much tougher and faster, let alone the pros, are just killing themselves. Now that we know what we're starting to know, I think the game ought to be outlawed, or turned into flag football or something. I loved playing flag and touch football as a kid (we didn't have full contact pee wee in those days) - it wasn't until I started playing full contact in HS that it became a painful experience. I remember a day or two after games being basically not able to function from the pain. Your pain threshold gets soooo high too - you shrug off stuff you really shouldn't. I played most of a game with a hyper-extended elbow after hurting it in the first quarter and it was sore but I'd have never thought of coming out. I missed a couple of weeks with that and its one of the places I still feel changes in the weather coming - that and a knee and an ankle.

If I had boys today, there's NO WAY I'd let them play - my Dad didn't want me to but he didn't have the information to stop me that we have now. I don't think its a game that can be cleaned up - its an inherently brutal, dangerous, and damaging game. I don't know how it gets dismantled, as ingrained as it is - I still watch it - but it should be...

-Ray

[shovelhd]

As long as there are millions to be earned and shows like Honey Boo Boo, there will be parents who will encourage their kids to play football. It's not going away. No big changes. I do hope that the league starts taking the injury problem, and not just brain injury, seriously. At the root of it are PED's and narcotics, which is something that they directly control. No serious reform will even happen until they admit that the league has a drug problem and they are going to do more than whitewash it.

Junior made a great Patriot. RIP.

[oldpotatoe]

I think there will be some very big changes sooner rather than later. Who would let their kid play football now? The game will have to change or die out.

I watched RG3 tear up his knee and right after going to the ground he took off his helmet without unhooking the straps.

Helmet fit is a joke(watch how many lose their helmets during a game) as is design. They could start there.

Small changes maybe, the player's union is pretty strong.

As long as it is full of $illions of $..not gonna die out.

[Dave B]

I would like to see a report on rugby players in europe and how they stack up to the NFL. I knwo pads are supposed to help protect, but I still think it is a safer game with out them.

While they do offer some protection they also make a player feel invincible and add more materials to hit harder.

Get rid of the pads and I would wager the game would be safer.

[Fixed]

Poor boxers
Cheers

[jet sanchez]

As long as it is full of $illions of $..not gonna die out.

I agree that it is all about money and the lawsuit that is before the courts against the NFL will be very telling. I think they will be paying out through the nose and it is then that we will see changes, when it affects their bottom line.

[Ken Robb]

My father was born in Scotland in 1908. Like his father he was a professional soccer player retiring in 1948. The balls back then were pure leather and gained a lot of weight on wet fields. I saw quite a few close up photos of players heading the ball that looked just like pix of heavyweight boxers taking a punch to the head.

Dad had severe dementia when he died at 81. We assumed he had Alzheimer's but I now wonder if 30 years of heading weighty balls wasn't the cause.

I played very little HS football but the coaches always emphasized the "importance" of hitting and hurting the opponents to "make them respect you".

In my 20's I played rugby on a medium/decent club team. There was never any suggestion that we should try to hurt an opponent. Unlike football there is no advantage to stopping a ball-carrier before he gains another inch, foot, yard unless you are right on the goal line. All that really mattered was that he not get past you on his way to the goal line.

Not only did we not have a helmet to use as a weapon/battering ram but only a fool would sacrifice an opportunity to wrap up a ball-carrier with a sure tackle to go for a smashing punishing tackle from which the runner might bounce off while continuing down the field.

I witnessed/experienced quite a few cuts and bruises but no concussions or severe joint injuries. I know those things happen to rugby players but not nearly as frequently as to football players.

I do remember some recent college grads who played for Auburn or Alabama coming out for their first few rugby practices who had to unlearn years of football tackling techniques. We were in Huntsville, AL. so there were LOTS of football players looking for a sport after their college days were over.

[Louis]

I agree that it is all about money and the lawsuit that is before the courts against the NFL will be very telling. I think they will be paying out through the nose and it is then that we will see changes, when it affects their bottom line.

This is unfortunately true - any changes made won't happen to protect players, they'll be made to protect owners' wallets. However, I'm not so certain that the lawsuits will be successful.

[rwsaunders]

It's so bad out there, even the Secretary of State had a concussion....