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Junior Seau found dead at his home
mycentraljersey.com
OCEANSIDE, CALIF. — Former NFL star Junior Seau was found shot to death
at his home Wednesday morning in what police said appeared to be a
suicide. He was 43.
Police Chief Frank McCoy said Seau’s girlfriend reported finding him
unconscious with a gunshot wound to the chest and lifesaving efforts
were unsuccessful. A gun was found near him, McCoy said.
Seau’s mother appeared before reporters, weeping uncontrollably.
“I don’t understand … I’m shocked,” Luisa Seau cried out.
Her son gave no indication of a problem when she spoke to him by phone
earlier this week, she said.
“He’s joking to me, he called me a ‘homegirl,’” she said.
Seau was a standout linebacker with the University of Southern
California before going to the San Diego Chargers — his hometown team —
whom he led to the Super Bowl following the 1994 season.
“Everyone at the Chargers is in complete shock and disbelief right now.
We ask everyone to stop what they’re doing and send their prayers to
Junior and his family,” the team said in a statement.
“It’s a sad thing. It’s hard to understand,” said Bobby Beathard, who
as Chargers general manager took Seau with the fifth pick overall in
the 1990 draft. “He was really just a great guy. If you drew up a
player you’d love to have the opportunity to draft and have on the team
and as a teammate, Junior and Rodney (Harrison), they’d be the kind of
guys you’d like to have.
“He was a leader emotionally and he played that way,” Beathard said.
“He was great to young kids. I just can’t imagine this, because I’ve
never seen Junior in a down frame of mind. He was always so upbeat and
he would keep people up. He practiced the way he played. He made
practice fun. He was a coach’s dream. He was an amazing guy as well as
a player and a person. This is hard to believe.”
Seau’s death follows the suicide last year of former Chicago Bears
player Dave Duerson, who also shot himself in the chest.
Seau remained with the Chargers until 2003 and went on to play with the
Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots before retiring after the 2009
season.
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