Junior Seau
Seau with the New England Patriots in 2008 | |||||||||||||||||
| No. 55 | |||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Linebacker | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | January 19, 1969 San Diego, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Died | May 2, 2012 (aged 43) Oceanside, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 250 lb (113 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||
| High school | Oceanside | ||||||||||||||||
| College | USC (1987–1989) | ||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1990: 1st round, 5th overall pick | ||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||
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Tiaina Baul "Junior" Seau Jr. (/ˈseɪ.aʊ/; SAY-ow; January 19, 1969 – May 2, 2012) was an American professional football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, mostly with the San Diego Chargers. Known for his passionate play,[1][2] he was a six-time first-team All-Pro, twelve-time Pro Bowl selection, and named to the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team. He was elected posthumously to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
Originally from San Diego, California,[3][4] Seau played college football for the USC Trojans, earning All-American honors in 1989. He was selected by the Chargers with the fifth overall pick of the 1990 NFL draft. Seau played for the Chargers for 13 seasons and led them to Super Bowl XXIX before being traded to the Miami Dolphins where he spent three years, and spent his last four seasons with the New England Patriots. After his retirement, his No. 55 was retired by the Chargers and he was inducted into their Hall of Fame.
Seau shot himself in the chest and died by suicide in 2012 at age 43. Later studies by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) concluded that Seau had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease that has also been found in other deceased former NFL players.[5][6] It is believed to be caused by repetitive head trauma, and can lead to conditions such as dementia, rage, and depression.[6]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
williamsonwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
acee_05022012was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Alvarez, Elizabeth. "New Junior Seau mural unveiled in Oceanside". www.msn.com. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
- ^ "Micah Seau, nephew of Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau, charged with murder". ABC 10 News San Diego KGTV. June 5, 2024. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
- ^ Fainaru-Wada, Mark; Avila, Jim; Fainaru, Steve (January 9, 2013). "Doctors: Junior Seau's brain had CTE". ESPN. Archived from the original on January 13, 2013.
- ^ a b Einbinder, Nicole (September 21, 2017). "Aaron Hernandez Found To Have Had "Severe" Case of CTE". Frontline. Public Broadcasting Station. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.