Junior Seau found dead at 43

Oceanside, Calif. police have confirmed that former San Diego Charger linebacker Junior Seau has died of a gunshot wound to the chest on Wednesday. He was 43.

Police are investigating his death as a possible suicide.

Police reported that a woman, who indicated that she was Seau's girlfriend, called police at about 9:35 a.m. reporting that she had returned home and found Seau unconscious in a bedroom suffering from a gunshot wound.

The Oceanside Police Department and Fire Department responded to the residence where they located Seau in one of the bedrooms. A hand gun was found near the body.

Life-saving measures were performed, but were unsuccessful.

Further details of the shooting were not immediately released


http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d828d07bd/article/junior-seau-dead-at-43-from-gunshot-wound-to-chest?module=HP11_breaking_news

Shocking news. Don't know whether it's murder or suicide.

He shot himself reportedly.

Gutted.

Very sad news. Highly respected New England Patriot. RIP Junior Seau.

They said he shot himself in the chest. He had a fair amount of concussions -- I wonder if they'll test him for the type of brain damage that can only be detected by tissue staining.

Sad news anyway. Saw a news story talking about the ill-fated members of the Chargers' only Super Bowl team:

Accidents, illness and the bizzare have all struck the 1994 Chargers. The tragic list:

• Linebacker David Griggs wrecked his car in Davie, Fla., in 1995. Tests showed he was legally drunk. He was 28.

• Running back Rodney Culver was killed in the ValuJet airplane crash in Florida in 1996. He was 26.

• Linebacker Doug Miller was struck by lightning in 1998 in Colorado. He was 28.

• Center Curtis Whitley died of a drug overdose in 2008. He was 39.

• Defensive end Chris Mims died from an enlarged heart in 2008. He was 38.

• Defensive lineman Shawn Lee suffered a heart attack in February 2011. He was 44.

• Linebacker Lew Bush also suffered a heart attack, in December 2011. He was 42.

• Seau died of a gunshot wound to the chest, which police are investigating as a suicide. He was 43.

Here's is the link to the whole story.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/Junior-Seau-death-another-tragedy-for-1994-San-Diego-Chargers-050212

Really sad news.

Reading articles on NFL.com it seems that even at the end of his career, when his legs weren't up to it, he was still a big influence on the pitch and in the locker room, and someone the rookies could look up to.

I wonder - if it proves to be suicide - if he shot himself in the chest to enable the run tests on the effects of the countless concussions. I think there was an ex-player who did something similar not long ago.

RIP Junior.

Really sad news. I don't know much about him as a player, but he seems to be really respected around the NFL, and especially in San Diego. RIP Junior Seau

Man, Junior Seau was a legend! Such sad news. He came into the league around the time I was first getting interested in football and he was just one of those names that was synonymous with the sport. So sad that a guy who was a giant in the game appears to have become so troubled that he has felt the need to take his own life.

There's a lot of talk about brain injury, but what people forget is that its a hell of a come down when you stop playing pro sports. I mean, I stopped playing the game as an amateur nearly 10 years ago and I still wish I could be out there. Doing it for a living, and getting all that adulation, its got to be really tough once you hang up your cleats. Look how long it took Favre!

I'm not saying there is a hell of a lot can be done in some cases, but I wonder about the support structure some of these players have in place when they retire, i.e. being surrounded by the right people.

RIP

skins4ever wrote:There's a lot of talk about brain injury, but what people forget is that its a hell of a come down when you stop playing pro sports. I mean, I stopped playing the game as an amateur nearly 10 years ago and I still wish I could be out there. Doing it for a living, and getting all that adulation, its got to be really tough once you hang up your cleats. Look how long it took Favre!

I'm not saying there is a hell of a lot can be done in some cases, but I wonder about the support structure some of these players have in place when they retire, i.e. being surrounded by the right people.

RIP

Great point skins4ever! Totally agree

Number-25 wrote:Man, Junior Seau was a legend! Such sad news. He came into the league around the time I was first getting interested in football and he was just one of those names that was synonymous with the sport. So sad that a guy who was a giant in the game appears to have become so troubled that he has felt the need to take his own life.

Totally agree Number25 , Was one of the best I saw when first watching football , a sad loss