RIP Junior Seau

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

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.

 

[RedHotChiliPrepper]

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.

 

[Drip]

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.

 

[imjustagirl]

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

 

[Drip]

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

He shot himself in the chest.

 

[Moderator1]

zzzzzzzzzzzoooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[poindexter]

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

He shot himself in the chest.

Was Seau in the Client?

 

[cyclingwriter]

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

He shot himself in the chest.

Was Seau in the Client?

Hodor sees what you did there.

 

[Drip]

zzzzzzzzzzzoooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

and here we go.

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

Listened to some sports talk radio in the last two hours. The treatment of this story is almost a non-issue with most shows.

Chris Russo on Mad Dog Sports Radio on Sirius/XM blew his gasket about it. Said he didn't want anyone on his channel talking about it because it just happened. When his co-host challenged him about when the proper time to address it was, he said it should never be discussed because it's not a sports issue. This was pretty much a 15 minute screaming match.

 

[turski7]

Got to admit, concussions were the first thing I thought of when I heard this. I wondered if he shot himself in the chest or head (now confirmed in chest) and couldn't help but wonder if this is head trauma related.
One question, will the family donate his brain to be examined? I hope so. The more information scientists can gather, the better. This is just so sad.
As a Broncos fan he destroyed many a Sunday for me. Just a great player and also seemed, by most accounts, a genuine person.

 

[Drip]

This interview with Wiley is heartbreaking. He alludes to Seau dealing with personal issues but wouldn't reach out for help.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7882750/former-nfl-linebacker-great-junior-seau-dies-43

 

[playthrough]

Listened to some sports talk radio in the last two hours. The treatment of this story is almost a non-issue with most shows.

Chris Russo on Mad Dog Sports Radio on Sirius/XM blew his gasket about it. Said he didn't want anyone on his channel talking about it because it just happened. When his co-host challenged him about when the proper time to address it was, he said it should never be discussed because it's not a sports issue. This was pretty much a 15 minute screaming match.

Wow. So no one dies in Russo's sports world, eh?

 

[hondo]

I'd like to know who was the ****ing idiot who put Seau's mother in front of cameras at a time like that. The world did not need to see that kind of grief and heartbreak so soon after this happened. And whoever was the guy patting her on the back while she was sobbing to God "take me" instead of her son ... dude needs to get a grip, and get that poor lady the hell out of there instead of patting her on the back.

Rant over.

 

[rmanfredi]

I'd like to know who was the ****ing idiot who put Seau's mother in front of cameras at a time like that. The world did not need to see that kind of grief and heartbreak so soon after this happened. And whoever was the guy patting her on the back while she was sobbing to God "take me" instead of her son ... dude needs to get a grip, and get that poor lady the hell out of there instead of patting her on the back.

Rant over.

She may have decided that she wanted to speak and no one wanted to tell a grieving mother what she could or couldn't do. Like I said, it was devastating to watch and I kept hoping someone in the family or a family friend would have jumped in to stop it.

 

[Batman]

Also this:

Lee Jenkins ‏ @SI_LeeJenkins
Seau is the eighth member of the Chargers '94 Super Bowl team to pass

https://twitter.com/#/SI_LeeJenkins/status/197751104572887040

This -- in addition to the many other deaths of "natural causes" (Reggie White et al.) or suicide/violence (Dave Duerson et al.) -- should have the NFL wringing its hands, and not just over how to protect its image against these sensational media outlets. Whether concussion-related or steroid-related or whatever, they have a major problem.

Before your hands start cramping up from all the wringing, read the list of how some of those guys on the '94 Chargers died.
One died in the 1996 ValuJet crash in Florida, during his playing career. Another guy was in a car wreck the year after the Super Bowl. A third was struck by lightning. The others were all heart-related.
It's an odd coincidence. Hard to connect the dots from those deaths to any of the larger player safety issues facing the NFL right now.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for adults between the ages of 18 and 65 years in the United States

http://www.afsp.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewpage&page_id=050fea9f-b064-4092-b1135c3a70de1fda

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

Adam Schefter ‏ @AdamSchefter
It doesn't mean he didn't have any, but the late, great Junior Seau never was listed on an NFL Injury report as having a concussion

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

If this doesn't get people to re-examine their love for football, I don't know what will.

It won't. It sucks, but after the shock wears off, it will be just the latest in a long line of players who died too early. He's one of the, if not the, biggest one to have tragedy strike, but in the end, no matter how many fans he had, it will be viewed by most football fans as just another former player who died too young. For all the talk about how "NFL is a business" and how players are replaceable commodities, cast aside when they can no longer contribute to the bottom line of winning, it can't be viewed as a surprise when fans and others take a similar stance.

If it was Tom Brady/Eli Manning/Tony Romo/Larry Fitzgerald/whatever current star you want to pick who killed himself, then it may be a different story.

 

[Gold]

I'd like to know who was the ****ing idiot who put Seau's mother in front of cameras at a time like that. The world did not need to see that kind of grief and heartbreak so soon after this happened. And whoever was the guy patting her on the back while she was sobbing to God "take me" instead of her son ... dude needs to get a grip, and get that poor lady the hell out of there instead of patting her on the back.

Rant over.

I once talked with a woman reporter who was a person a paper would send out regularly to talk to relatives in this situation.

One thing she told me was that she always bought something over to the family, usually something like Entermann's cake. She told me that a lot of times people really wanted to talk to someone. She said she always asked for a picture first.

It is horrible enough for a parent to have to bury their child - I'm sad thinking about it as I wait for my daughter's to come home right now. I can understand why somebody might want to talk to a member of the media - I think I would want people to know what somebody's likes and dislikes were, how they always smiled, how they had a brave battle against a lingering disease or illness.