I was saddened to hear that former NFL linebacker Junior Seau died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was found by his girlfriend in their Oceanside, California home with a wound to his chest area.
This was especially close to home for me, being he was a former USC linebacker.
This was a shock to every close to the former San Diego Charger, Miami Dolphin and New England Patriot. His ex-wife, Gina Seau said he sent texts to her and their children to say “He loved them”.
“We’re all in shock,” she said. “We’re beyond sad and beyond shocked. The kids and I are just huddled together at home. There is no way to make sense of this.
“I hope and pray everyone remembers what a wonderful man he was,” she said.
Seau is nearly a sure bet to be a Hall of Famer one day, but he will be forever remembered for the way he died. The former twelve-time Pro Bowl linebacker was only 43 years old.
We’ve seen former Eagles safety Andre Waters shoot himself and the researchers discovered major damage to his brain tissue 
from concussions.
Former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson shot himself and the doctors have also reportedly seen major damage to his brain tissue from concussions.
Former Atlanta Falcons safety Ray Easterling shot himself a month ago.
These suicides are awful publicity for the NFL. The league is going to be pressed to do more to find players who are battling depression and post concussion problems then get them some help.
I couldn’t help but be moved to tears when his mother, Luisa Seau, shared her grief by offering that she would rather be the one passing in the place of her son.
Its a tragic event for his family that this moron decided to take his own life. Selfish and cowardly. Ill never look at the legend of Junior Seau again.
Interesting point of view birdo. Didn’t expect that from you.
While the suicide is tragic, no one knows the why(although it probably is CTE related).
These guys need to ask for help. You cant get any relief of your pain unless you seek help. It was reported that Jerry Rice saw Junior at a golf tournament on Monday and he was fine and in good spirits.
wild_bk – I agree with you but our culture, ESPECIALLY football culture, doesn’t not encourage asking for help. Mental/medical issues are seen as a weakness – a HOF LB is supossed to be tough as nails, infallible, show no weakness. It would have been better for him to seek help, but it’s not even known if he was capable of seeing how bad things were getting. If his brain was in such truama, which I’m speculating, but its likely, it was likely compromised beyond the abillity to overcome deeply ingrained social pressures to now show weakness.
Very sad.
I can’t imagine how he could do it with 3 young kids since I have 3 young ones. Seau would not use team doctors or trainers while with the Chargers. He would use other doctors so other guys on the team didn’t see his medical needs. This guy was as driven and tough as they come, but it’s that same mind set that prevented him from getting any help. I think he really felt he had to be Superman and never show weakness to all that knew or met him. It’s tragic what must have been going on inside of his head.
Its easy to rip the guy as a coward and moron, but something is seriously wrong here and its obvious.. The guy wasnt just running away from life. Plenty of these guys have killed themselves and it is no coincidence. I think whatever depression or emotional turmoil they are going thru must be very very hard to conquer. They need to get these guys some help and soon.
The scary part is he was living a fairly solid life for a retired athlete – full schedule of events, communty ties, kids were very succeful athletes (actually got a memo for us lax refs on how to treat his son if we ref one of those teams games), succeful business, seemed to have money, great family relationships, he was out and about……..
hope evryone remembers this when the zebras flag people for using helmets for hits and hitting players that can;t defend themselves… not sure if that is the exact reason – but anything to mitgate the head injuries will not hurt.
The culture needs to be changed then. When guys retire the NFLPA should require them to have a brain scan.
A tragic end to a great player and from all accounts a great person and wonderful father.. Mental Illness, Addictions,Alcohol,Drugs, Prescriptions are something we will never fully understand for all these things have different effects on different people, but man, you hate to hear about people who on the surface seem to have a great life and end up taking their own life or leaving this planet well before living a full life..
wild_bk – agreed, but more than one brain scan is needed – a full biopsychosocial assessment is more in order.
Very sad. Suicide is a permenant solution for a temporary problem. Obviously he issues a cry for help when he drove his vechicle off the cliff in 2010, and I am sure that those close with him tried to help. Say a prayer for his children, and hopefully anyone who is also depressed and looking for an easy way out, consider those left behind and the pain that is caused by your passing. It does get better, just wish that Junior, Andre and the others would have been able to realize that. RIP Junior.
I live in Oceanside and my bro in law is related to the Seau family. He too is Samoan. We as San Diegans are deeply sad and will truly miss Jr. I’ve had the pleasure to hang with Jr a few times, and he is a very down to earth person. He was always willing to help in any which way he could. We have a very large Samoan community here in oside and he was there inspiration. This one is going to hurt. God bless bro
it says a lot of our culture when our now favorite game is violence, begets more violence with bounties, players suffer disabling, crippling injuries, now brain injured players taking their own lives, even how the players are picked at prodded at like a slave auction (combine), all for entertainment and making greedy white men billions of dollars
There is immerging technology in the area of improved impact helmets that the NFL should look into. Maybe get the best gear and not just the best marketing company. I have heard of ballistic like technology being used in the next generation of impact sports head gear and it is like night and day they say.
The field test data is still being collected, but the lab and sims point to helmets that reduce impact shock by 50% or more.
It is much like the impact seat that came out about 10 years ago, where just on the design of the car seat alone was enough to reduce car trama by more than 50%. i have seen demo’s where a collision was created and the test dummy barely moved out of the car seat even while not being seat belted.
Still no one is using this car technology. I hope the NFL takes a different approach to new tech than the auto industry. Becasue I would hate to see the “Ban Boxing” people get involved with editing our dear and beloved football (Flagfootball anyone?).
So has anyone ever heard of this stuff or am I just plain dreaming that I did?
As always “LONG LIVE THE EAGLES”, and may all player minds be safe this coming season.
I seriously cannot believe that a legend I looked up to, that epitomized what football was to me (on the same level as Dawkins in my book), would do this.
It hurts me inside that this guy would leave his children, his family, his poor mother….he would really leave them behind to deal with this grief.
Horrible and cowardly. I will pray for his family. This is just sick.
Jakedog, now this is about race? STFU you moron.
Shame, there is nothing good about this — This will be the first thing I think of when thinking of Junior Seau — is he a Hall of Famer? If so I feel bad for those players elected in the same HOF class – this sorrow and shame will suck the joy out of their HOF ceremonies
No body knows…. Brian Dawkins may be doing this in a few years….
Who Killed Davey Moore, Why and What’s the reason for ???
“Not Me” says the Boxing writer, pounding print on his old typewriter, sayin “Boxing ain’t to blame, there’s just as much danger in a Football game”, sayin’ “Fistfighting is here to stay, it’s just the old American way. it wasn’t me that made him fall, you can’t blame me at all”
“Not me”, says the man whose fists, laid him low in a cloud of mist, Who came here from Cuba’s door where boxing ain’t allowed no more, ” I hit him, yes it’s true, but that’s what I am paid to do, Don’t say murder, don’t say kill, It was destiny, it was God’s will”
Who Killed Davey Moore, Why, and What’s the Reason for ????
Written by Bob Dylan – 1964
when the brain is injured it is not normal, doesn’t function properly, much like asking a person to walk on a fractured ankle, so to blame Seau is moronic, and birdo this is not abput race, its why are we entertained by this violent sport, people are crippled, dying as a result, and only a handful of players make out without injury, while even a smaller amount, the owners, make billions of dollars
good find paulman, Seau was collateral damage to the profiteering owners,
First off, we don’t even know what Seau’s brain condition is anyway! So to blame the game for this selfish act is moronic!
jake I hear where you’re going with this but you seem to be discounting that Junior Seau chose the profession, chose to continue it, and got paid quite well for his services. It’s not as if the (race irrelevant) billionaire owners collect ALL the money or FORCE the players to play.
It’s a quite complex issue, but its a disservice to all involved if the issue is oversimplified.
birdo – You’re being just as moronic – you’re correct that we lack information on the specific conditions. But that only verifies that your blame is equally premature.
I hear you, you clearly have a strong view of suicide and the horrible effects it has on surviving loved ones. But you seem to utterly lack any compassion for Seau and what he seems to have been going through. You also seem to give no respect to the potential biological processes that were happening in regards to his neurological state. Severe depression itself can impose limits on ones capacity for critical thinking, decision making, and empathy.
You’re rushing to judgement just as much as those who blame the game for this.
schill I agree with your statement…..why Jake would feel the need to specifically list the race of team owners as a factor in Seau’s suicide makes no sense to me. Maybe he is caught up in the whole 99% protests, but this is the wrong subject to try and make the point. ALL involved in professional football earn livings that far exceed the average Joe in America, but if we are to believe that as many ex-players are as permenently damaged as Jakedog suggests above, then we should all pettition Congress to shut it down in an effort to protect those individuals, or at least save the taxpayers the cost of longterm health issues due to national healthcare, much in the same way that they attacked the tobacco industry because of the health costs associated with the product.
That being said, I read a posting on BGN this morning that caused me to re-think my 2 youngest boys playing football. At 11 & 13 they have both been playing for 4-6 years, my oldest has had at least one concussion. I am really wondering if continuing to play the sport will only cause them problems later in life, and is it my job as a parent to make sure that they grow up as safe as possible? I haven’t made my mind up, but this is something that is going to keep me up at night.
Very tragic. seau was an awesome player and sure first ballot HOF. By appearances a very good person as well. From what I’ve read and heard through various media, the police have thus far ruled his death a suicide, but this is still pending a full investigation. No? Either way, regardless how one may feel about someone committing suicide, a little respect and sensitivity was always the rule of the day I thought. You listening birdo? You appear to have rather strong opinions about Seau, and don’t appear to have all the facts yourself. aside from reports that he died from an “apparent” suicide, do you have any concrete facts on his cause of death? And gathering what some now know about head injuries in the NFL, how can you be so damn sure this didn’t lead to emotional trauma that lead to suicide?
I completely agree with your assessment BirdoBeamen – this was a selfish act by a person who didn’t even care about the affect it would have on his family. Now the hypocrates come out of the woodworks when it comes to a particular ethnicity they don’t have a problem with – these idiots make excuses for em. When Djax is not playing his best after the death of his father and is holding out for a contract, he’s a “thug”. When lawrence taylor gets into a little bit of trouble, he questions”why don’t all the Black people stand up against this kinda stuff”. Now that seau has done something selfish, its” from all accounts a great person and wonderful father.. Mental Illness, Addictions,Alcohol,Drugs, Prescriptions are something we will never fully understand for all these things have different effects on different people”; Oh boo fucking hoo with that crap; why aren’t these same questions asked when a black athlete who’s people had a disadvantage for over 400 years asked when he does something stupid? a buncha hypocrates that is and you know who you are.
rocko – wow, race card? Also, you’re mixing crime and suicide here.
Seau did nothing illegal. And nobody said anything about racial implications of his death. If he had been black or white, I still think the conversation would be the same, it wouldn’t have changed a thing. I challenge you to find one fan that fealt differently about Waters or Dave Duerson.
But seriously, LT didn’t commit suicide. Nether did Djax. Djax didn’t commit a crime OR commit suicide. You clearly have some racial issue related strong feelings here, and you’re certainly justified in general for those, but you’re applying them in a strage way to an irrelevant event.
Djax’s father died a long time ago, and you’re the first I’m hearing to like that to his behavior. And again, even that has nothing to do with race. I’ve heard plenty of black people saying that Desean can be an immature showboating egotist often.
But back to Seau – he just died for crying out loud – and by suicide (presumably). For you to suggest that people are giving him a pass at anything because he’s not black is absurd. There’s no pass to give him – he freaking committed SUICIDE. How can you judge him or suggest someone should?
Do you lack ALL compassion?
You can take race out of it, but not the money and the fact that the majority of these players will end up either disabled, crippled, broke, some of them with shortened life expectancies, and dead while the owners look for more ways to maximize profits at the players expense
None of you have any right to judge what he did. You may think that you can put yourself in his shoes, but you are wrong. You have no idea. I don’t care if you are a father, an ex NFL player or even Samoan. None of you know,
And for the rest of DBs making this about race, good grief. There is a time and a place for that discussion. What you say may even have merit, but cripes.
Jake – I can sense you anger. Let us remember that it is the owners that are passing all the new rules protecting their ‘investments’, not permitting low tackles or late hits or high hits or leading with the helmets..
this is what makes the concept of ‘bounties’ so appalling is that in these cases it is actual football players, going after fellow football players with potential catastrophic consequences…
these same players (J Harrison comes to mind) will literally try and decapitate a player (don;t get me started on hockey) and then scream when they get fined or suspended that the game is bieng ‘changed’
take a look at how much attention is being given to head injuries in sports now –
let’s also remember that many pro athletes -from all sports – suffer after leaving hteir sports.. most of their identities were tied up in being the pro this or the pro that.. some just don;t handle it as well as others.
I think Schill is right – even if you disagree with Suea’s actions, schow compassion for the remaining family. Even if you hate the greddy owners, Seau loved Bud Kraft and the owner of the Charger’s – this is totally a time for compassion…
Let the Doc’s and police determine what happened – then we can figure out who to be angry at –
jake – what’s your proposed solution? I have mine, but socialism/politics are for another day’s discussion.
(1 Corinthians 3:16-17 NIV) [16] Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? [17] If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
^^^^^^^^^powerful stuff man.
Paulman i love your taste in music. Great comparison with the Davey Moore song. Dylan is a genius and Seau was an incredible football player. In these situations the ” Big Picture ” always comes to mind for me. Money and celebrity can only do so much towards gaining true, tangible happiness. Wish Junior could have helped Junior.
Schiller — Seau DID commit a crime. He committed murder. Obviously he can’t be charged with it.
Any way you slice it suicide is the easy way out of a temporary problem and it spits in the face of your family and those in this world that are going through much difficult times.
We were put on this earth to LIVE. The man above decides when its our time, not you.
I take things like this hard because I know I’m not here for just myself on this earth. I have a family that loves me, that depends on me and people to care for. Seau did too.
Shiller good strong points. Birdo you’re an azzhole.
The ignorance & purely utter stupidity, never ceases to amaze me, on this site. For anyone to even bring up the race card on this topic, is just flat out ignorant & insane. WTF does the color of his skin, have to do with any of this. Dave Duerson was black, he died under almost carbon copy circumstances, & that got major media attention. The F^#@ING ignorance & stupidity on here is running wild. Now for you Birdo, who the hell are you to judge anybody? Unless you have been in his, or anyone else’s shoes, who are you to say the $#!t you said? Although I agree with you, that ones left behind have to deal with the pain, anger, questions, & the picking up the pieces of their lives, that does give you the right to judge, or say the garbage you spewed. So unless you come from a area of topic, of personal knowledge, you don’t have the right to judge. I come from the know! I’ve had to deal with 2 suicides close to my heart, that I still deal with on a daily basis. My Dad killed himself & a very good friend of mine, hung herself. My Dad battled lifelong substance abuse, because of severe mental abuse as a child, from my insane, evil Grandmom, & finally couldn’t deal anymore, & intentionally overdosed himself. My friend was raped several times as a teannager, by her Uncle, & nobody believed her but me & her parents did nothing, & disowned her. You have ZERO knowledge, information, or a clue of the circumstances. Practice what you preach, about knowing the man above stuff. HE’S THE JUDGE, NOT YOU!!!
BTW, am I the only one that is sceptical about the suicide? I still think his Girlfriend had something to do with it, or maybe that’s just the investigator side of me talking.
Oo
-^
It’s funny with all of the judges, juries, executors & Holier than thou fools this world contains, but yet ZERO care, help, remedies, nor solutions come from any of them. Don’t throw stones, living in a glass house. Unless you are perfect, IN WHICH NOBODY IS, you don’t have the right to judge anyone, let alone call someone a moron, coward, selfish & a murderer. YOU ARE FLAT OUT IGNORANT & WRONG. SORRY, BUT YOU ARE!
I am an old timer and the term Punch Drunk has been around for decades when referring to old time boxers who obviously had brain problems BUT I don’t remember suicides as been reported –maybe it wasn’t considered news to do so
Wonder if any connection to steroid use is being considered as part of the medical investigation to effects on the brain
RCP- good point. I never thought about that. They have so many other long term medical effects, why not this as well.
Birdo- by trying to prove your piety, you completely miss the point in that you ignore compassion altogether. DCAR is right in that you have no right to judge. Again, I will say that you have no idea what he was going through, so don’t even begin to impose your own thoughts and judgements on him.
Bunch of whining sissies on this board… One guy says ‘White men’ and everybody starts moaning about the race card… Stop it…
the guys are white men and it isnt a ‘race card’ just to so say so… bunch of damn babies
What i think is sad/crazy is that most in this room are trying to find a person to blame. Some blame Jr. for taking the easy way out. Some blame the owners for how the game is set up, some blame players for bounties and such. Some even blame us the fan for paying for this. I think the point that Pman brings up with his poem (great find by the way) is that we are ALL part of the problem here. I found myself wanting the Eagles to draft a CB who has several arrests and like 400 kids. As a youth minister and a father…… there is something wrong with that….something wrong with me… us. In all honesty- i hate most of the changes that are being made in football BUT…. im glad its changing….. for this very reason. Forgive me for sounding preachy (i try not to do that here)… but clearly we are not “progressing” as people… are we? Thank God, that God fixed this sin problem in Jesus. R.I.P Jr…… may we learn something from this sad death and may your family shine on.
Blame the owners ?????
How about the fans including posters on this site who DEMAND winners
Owners are only giving the public what they want
rcp – let’s go further than that. What about the posters on this site who DEMAND violent hitters, like Burfict….
stop it — it is not the owner’s fault — police get killed by criminals, firemen burn to death, fishermen drown, miners get caved in — it is a hazardous job, Seau chose to use his helmet as a deterrent to ball carriers & there is a warning sticker in every helmet specifically instructing a player the helmet is not designed to be used that way