RIP Junior Seau

Seau and Keith McCants (Alabama LB) were taken back-to-back in the 1990 draft (picks 4 and 5). McCants was a complete bust as a pro and has had troubles with addiction and the law since his career ended, even living on the streets of Birmingham for a time.

I never thought he'd outlive Seau.

 

PD saying they are investigating as a suicide. Absolutely shocking

 

I have to say, I when I saw the thread title, I thought this was a Facebook hoax or something and when I saw the TMZ article, I believed it right away.

As someone else said, they're sleazy (and unabashedly so), but they get this stuff right.

 

They broke the stories on the deaths of Michael Jackson and Dick Clark, on Mel Gibson's DUI arrest (his first anti-Semitic rant), the Chris Brown/Rihanna altercation and that Tiger Woods' "car wreck" was more than that.

If I see a breaking news report by TMZ, I tend to believe it.

 

Yes depression is a mother. And yes it will make you consider and do horrendous shit no rational person would touch, regardless of who it hurts.

I don't think anyone on this thread was malicious, but adding to the shame cycle (how can you do this?) adds to the spiraling guilt that is already there. Our culture has to start offering love and reaffirming that there is hope.

 

Looking at the NC Times story, Seau's car wreck came shortly after an arrest on allegations of domestic abuse. So the instant football player=head injury connection may be a bit of a leap. But we're just talking ...

 

I have to believe someone in law-enforcement is getting a nice "gift" from TMZ. or maybe the coroner's office, which is where it seems the first tip came from. Or maybe they just get a big bonus over their usual retainer.

 

Even if this incident stems at least mostly directly from something else -- a fight with his girlfriend or whatever -- examining the brain of someone so recently in the league would probably yield a ton of information.

And, since I didn't get around to before pissing on this thread earlier: RIP. The guy was a beast in the AFC West when I grew up, and as rough as he made it on my Broncos, I never had anything but respect for the man. He was an easy guy to cheer for.

 

A little off topic but as a Patriots fan I worry about Ted Johnson. I hope someone from the team is looking in on him and I hope Junior's death doesn't give him any ideas.

 

I wonder if with all the added focus and attention in recent years on head injuries and concussions if players begin to retire from collision sports like football sooner. Obviously for those who have never won a title there is always going to be that void so they end up hanging on a little longer than they should to chase a ring, but maybe a death like Seau's - especially if it turns out there were some underlying head injury issues - is enough to scare players to give up he game knowing they could still play quality years.

 

This may sound morbid, but my guess is that he shot himself in the chest so that someone could look at his brain and see if he did sustain any damage from playing in the NFL.

 

Hey, does anyone know if Dave Duerson shot himself in the chest?