Junior Seau

[call_me_andrew]

Police: Junior Seau found dead at California home - Yahoo! Sports

[youtube]IUh_6Y9797M[/youtube]

[00steven]

RIP

[edv]

Another case of an athlete suffering from a career of hits to the head.
Shot himself in the chest, presumably so that his brain would remain intact for later examination.
RIP.

[SoCalPVguy]

As second generation USC graduate and long time Cardinal and Gold member I saw Junior play every down. I did meet him at practice back then in the late 1980s. No. 55 has been reserved since then and only awarded to the best of the best linebackers in his honor and I hope this will be the continuing tradition. He was a credit to himself, his family, his pro teams and his university. However it became clear a few years ago that something was not right about Jr. There was some erratic behavior, a weird car crash... Whether it was repeated head trauma or effects of steroids, drinking... we do not know now; but I hope the truth will be known that there was an underlying cause to this tragedy where a 43 year old guy was in such pain that he took his own life.

[anthonyvop]

Another case of an athlete suffering from a career of hits to the head.
Shot himself in the chest, presumably so that his brain would remain intact for later examination.
RIP.

And you know this how?

[DBell]

As second generation USC graduate and long time Cardinal and Gold member I saw Junior play every down. I did meet him at practice back then in the late 1980s. No. 55 has been reserved since then and only awarded to the best of the best linebackers in his honor and I hope this will be the continuing tradition. He was a credit to himself, his family, his pro teams and his university. However it became clear a few years ago that something was not right about Jr. There was some erratic behavior, a weird car crash... Whether it was repeated head trauma or effects of steroids, drinking... we do not know now; but I hope the truth will be known that there was an underlying cause to this tragedy where a 43 year old guy was in such pain that he took his own life.

Considering what has happened, that car crash looks more like an earlier suicide attempt.

RIP Junior. Though he never played for any of my favorite teams, I really enjoyed watching him play and was an admirer of his. One of the best linebackers ever and a lock for the Hall of Fame.

[call_me_andrew]

And you know this how?

Dave Duerson did the same thing last year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/sp...20duerson.html

[anthonyvop]

Dave Duerson did the same thing last year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/sp...20duerson.html

Thousands of people commit suicide every year......Are you saying they all do for the same reasons?

[gloomyDAY]

And you know this how?

We shouldn't jump to conclusions. This happened when former Lyle Alzado blamed his brain tumor anabolic steroid use. There was a sudden and very public outcry against steroid use, but none of it was linked to brain tumors as Alzado claimed.

No one really knows what happened in Jr's life that could have contributed to his suicide. An open-mind should be used here because Jr was a prime athlete and a great example of character off the field, so his loss has floored a lot of people. Let's just sit on our hands and wait for the entire picture to unfold.

[Tazio]

Being a San Diegan I admired him as a football player for the Chargers, S.C. and even his accomplishments at Oceanside High School. I wish his family peace, and strength. The suicide was most likely caused by clinical depression. I did extensive work across the street from his $12,000,000 house in La Jolla. I used to see him come and go he'd wave with that enormous grin. His wife divorced him in in 2002, and I suspect he never really reconciled that, as he texted her and his children that he loved them before he shot himself.
While living in Oceanside he was arrested for assault with injury to his live in G F. was booked at Vista Jail and released on bail at 3:30 am. It is unclear (to me) where he spent the next 5 hours until he drove off a 30ft cliff in Carlsbad, and was treated for minor injuries. He said he was on the way to meet someone for coffee and fell asleep. This sounds plausible if he was up the entire night. I also think it was raining that morning. He was driving south on 101 so he was most likely coming from Oceanside, as Carlsbad is the next incorporated City to the south. He also settled out of court in 2007 for assaulting (verbally and throwing drinks on) two women patrons at a nightclub in the Gaslamp District of Downtown San Diego.
No one knows exactly why he took his life. "I" said I think it was depression, and so have others. It may have been associated with brain trauma, but it could have been organic brain chemical or electrical imbalances. I’m no expert, but I can’t help but think that there could be some kind of a genetic or cultural influences. He was born in S.D. but was moved to Samoa as a toddler and didn’t even speak English until he was seven years old. He was not a player known to have had multiple concussions. He didn't get them, he gave them. Then again he was so tough he probably played through minor ones and the cumulative effect is known to cause all kinds of maladies including depression. It just goes to show, you can’t tell what is going on with people, unless you can crawl into their skin, or someone intervenes. Junior is the eighth player from the 1994 Charger Super Bowl team to die young. The deaths range from suicide to Doug Miller dying from a lighting strike at the age of 28
On the flip side he was a very engaging man, a hometown boy that made it big. He had several charities most notably The Junior Seau Foundation. He had a kickin' Sports Pub in Mission Valley complete with a lavish cigar room. One of the all time great linebackers in NFL history, He will never be forgotten, at least not in San Diego. Whatever your demons were; RIP my Man