Junior Seau’s brain didn’t show damage or drug influence in an autopsy conducted after his death.
Football fans were stunned and saddened when former NFL star Junior Seau committed suicide at his Southern California home on May 2. The linebacker shot himself in the chest, leading some to assume he did it so doctors could study his brain.
However, Seau’s autopsy shows that the 43-year-old showed no signs of brain injury or drug use at the time of his death. Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Craig Nelson wrote in his final report that the athlete “had an unremarkable medical history” and had shown no “suicidal ideation or confirmed suicide attempt.”
Some close to Seau commented that he did show signs of suicide before his death.
“He was troubled trying to find his lot in life after football,” Oceanside Blade-Tribune reporter Steve Scholfield said. “Football was his life. He could absolutely light up a room with his smile, but he had a dark side. He was a conflicted person.”
Celebs shocked and saddened by Junior Seau’s death >>
The National Institutes of Health plans to keep Seau’s brain tissue for further research, according to the Los Angeles Times. Hopefully this will keep any more NFL stars from committing suicide. The latest victim -– O.J. Murdock, 25 –- killed himself just a few weeks ago.
Murdock, like Seau, gave no indication he was suicidal, according to those close to him. He texted his former coach, Mike Munchak, right before he shot himself.
“(He) was like, ‘Coach, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and my family,” Munchak told the Tampa Bay Times of the text. “At the end of the text he said, ‘I apologize.’ I figured he’s apologizing because he texted me so early.”
So sad. Suicide is never the answer.
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