SPORTS - Football Great Junior Seau Dies 1969-2012

A sad day for all us San Diego fans. Not just for his football, but also for his community work.

(click for better view)


"Junior Seau, hometown icon, takes his life" by Kristina Davis, Debbi Baker and Pauline Repard, San Diego Union-Tribune 5/2/2012

Excerpt

Former Chargers linebacker Junior Seau (1969-2012) died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his beachfront home in Oceanside Wednesday. The hometown icon who rose to stardom in the NFL was 43.

Seau’s girlfriend called 911 at 9:35 a.m. reporting a possible suicide, Police Chief Frank McCoy said. Officers found Seau in a bedroom with a gunshot wound to the chest. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.

A handgun was found near his body, and police are investigating the death as a suicide, McCoy said. No suicide note was found, police said.

An autopsy is expected to be completed Thursday, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.

Hundreds gathered behind police tape around Seau’s two-story home on the south end of The Strand and reflected quietly about the immense impact he had on the community. About 40 to 50 friends and family arrived in waves, hugging one another and crying.

Seau’s mother, Luisa Seau, sobbed in front of reporters as she cried loudly, “Junior! Why didn’t you tell me you were going?”

“I don’t understand, I don’t know anything,” his mother said. “I’m shocked. I appreciate everyone, show your love to my son.”

One of Seau’s sisters, Annette, asked for privacy for the family.

“My brother was a loving brother and a caring citizen,” she said.

As the medical examiner’s van carrying Seau’s body pulled away from the home about 1:20 p.m., supporters had to hold back his mother as she started running after it. Other mourners sobbed as the van passed, and one knelt down to pray.

Flowers and tributes began to pile up nearby as family and friends struggled to explain a motivation for Seau’s suicide.

On Monday, he appeared to be in high spirits at the Tim Brown celebrity golf tournament in Dana Point, said California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Bettencourt. He said Seau stopped by the CHP’s booth that afternoon on the 11th hole and traded jokes and laughs with the officers.

His ex-wife, Gina Seau, of Fairbanks Ranch, said that on Tuesday he texted her and each of their three children separate messages: “I love you.”

“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.”

Chargers President Dean Spanos said in a statement: “We all lost a friend today. Junior was an icon in our community. He transcended the game. He wasn’t just a football player, he was so much more.”

Other accolades poured in from around the county.