Junior Seau suffered from CTE

Seau died in May from a self-inflicted gunshot. He was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) based on posthumous tests earlier this month, a condition his family says developed as a result of the violent hits he sustained while playing in the NFL.

In the lawsuit, the family claims the NFL hid the dangers of repetitive blows to the head and deliberately ignored and concealed evidence of the risks of traumatic brain injuries. In addition to the NFL, the Seau family also sued Ridell Inc., the company which manufactured the helmet’s worn by Seau.

The football world has been wringing its hands for a few years now because of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease caused by concussions and other head-on collisions that happen constantly on a football field. A number of players have committed suicide in the past few years and later been diagnosed with this condition after careful autopsies examining their brain. To take the most famous and recent example, there’s Junior Seau, who committed suicide last spring. Two weeks ago it was revealed his brain was degenerating thanks to CTE.

It’s all pretty horrifying.

The statement called for action to enact better safety measures for NFL players that may help prevent injuries that lead to conditions like CTE:

In addition to the calls for new measures, the statement also asks Congress to take part in building a safer NFL:

Curtis Martin told the truth about how little the game meant to him for most of his life. “When I’m in situations like this,” he said as he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in August, “especially when I’m being honored for something that I’ve achieved in football, it always makes me feel a little awkward and out of place because I’ve just never really been able to identify with the love and the passion that a lot of my colleagues and a lot of the other alumni of the Hall of Fame have.”

This wasn’t just a childhood thing. “I can remember draft day like it was yesterday,” he told the crowd in Canton. “The phone rings and it’s Bill Parcells. I answer the phone and say hello, and Parcells says, Curtis, we want to know if you’re interested in being a New England Patriot? I said, yes, yes, sir. And we hang up the phone. As soon as we hang up the phone I turn around to everyone and I said, oh, my gosh, I do not want to play football.”

Seau’s family requested an analysis of his brain following his death on May 2, 2012. He was 43 at the time.

Depression, mood swings, emotional detachment; Seau’s family described side effects of the condition that marked the NFL great’s final years. Tyler Seau described his father’s condition on the program:

Reuters reports the toxicology report found therapeutic levels of a sleep aid were found in his system, but no substances of abuse such as drugs or alcohol. The sleeping medicine that was present in Seau is known as Zolpidem.

Seau had trouble sleeping for many years, according to friends that knew him. At times, they say he didn’t always take the sleeping medication as prescribed, according to SI.com.

Seau didn’t leave a note, but his brain — which will be donated to the National Institutes of Health — will join Dave Duerson’s as former NFL players who committed suicide. Duerson famously shot himself in the chest in Feb. 2011 and left a suicide note requesting his brain be donated to concussion research.

Seau, a future Hall of Fame linebacker, was just 43 when he took his own life, and his death launched the largest conversation yet about the effect repeated blows to the head have on the brain, and how the NFL has handled players suffering from concussion symptoms. The disease associated with concussion-related brain deterioration, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, can only be diagnosed in an autopsy.

“Junior’s accomplishments on the field speak for themselves,” Spanos said. “His play on the field combined with his leadership and charisma became the face of this team for more than a decade. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this honor.”

For continued coverage and reaction on Seau’s death, visit Chargers blog Bolts From The Blue.

Estimates put the crowd for the event at Qualcomm Stadium at between 17,000 and 20,000 attendees. In addition to playing for the Chargers for 13 seasons, Seau grew up in San Diego and played his college football close to home at USC.

For continued coverage and reaction on Seau’s death, visit Chargers blog Bolts From The Blue.

For continued coverage and reaction on Seau’s death, visit Chargers blog Bolts From The Blue.

Seau, who reportedly committed suicide by gunshot wound to the chest, leaving his head intact, did not leave a suicide note, leaving the decision about what happens next up to his family.

Seau was never listed on an NFL injury report with a concussion, but his ex-wife said this week that the former Chargers and Patriots linebacker played through them. The prevailing winds in the NFL’s reckoning with football’s violence — recent suicides by Dave Duerson and Ray Easterling have been connected to concussions — are in favor of greater study of the effects of concussions.

As the world processes the news of Junior Seau’s sudden suicide this week, many have asked whether there’s any connection to concussions suffered his twenty year football career. For now, the answer is complicated.

On one hand, ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted on Wednesday that Seau was never once listed on an NFL injury report with a concussion. But he also said, “It doesn’t mean he didn’t have any.” It will be weeks and possibly months before we know for sure whether Seau’s brain had changed thanks to football, but as for the concussion question, Thursday brought another wrinkle.

Brown made a Thursday appearance on 95.7 The Game, a San Francisco sports radio station, urging caution in the rush to pin Seau’s death on the effects of CTE.

A number of factors can impact mental health, factors beyond concussions. Determining whether or not head trauma played a role in Seau’s death will take time.

Former NFL linebacker Junior Seau is believed to have committed suicide on Wednesday, but it was in a method in which isn’t typical. Seau died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest, and some presume that was so that his brain could be used for scientific study, similar to former NFL player Dave Duerson, who left a note stating he wanted his brain used for study.

According to Peter King of Sports Illustrated, some researchers are trying to obtain Seau’s brain for research.

“To see that guy bleed,” Wiley continues. “To see that guy go through all those ills, just so you guys had a chance. To see that come out of a person ... ”

The host cuts in here. “Sacrifice. You’re talking about sacrifice. It’s one of the things that’s resonated about Christianity through the centuries. ... Sacrificing of themselves for the greater good.”

Head over to Bolts From The Blue, where fans are remembering the legendary former San Diego Chargers linebacker.

The tragic death of Junior Seau, the future NFL Hall of Fame linebacker who committed suicide at the age of 43 on Wednesday, may have been hastened by the violent nature of the sport he loved and, sadly, the breathtaking speed and ferocity with which he played his entire career. While the circumstances that led to his suicide may not be known for some time (or ever), his death has once again sparked conversation about the deleterious effects of repetitive head trauma on the long-term health of athletes who play contact sports, regardless of age or level of competition.

It is notable that Seau’s was the third suicide among former professional football players in the past 15 months, and the previous two – former safeties Dave Duerson and Ray Easterling – were thought to have suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) acquired over their years in the NFL. And as researchers continue to make progress in their understanding of CTE -- a degenerative brain condition linked to head trauma that can lead to memory impairment, loss of impulse control, depression, and dementia -- questions continue to mount over what can be done to curb its rising incidence.

Seau did reportedly contact family members via text messages sent Tuesday night. He did not mention suicide at the time, however, instead telling his ex-wife, Gina Seau, and each their three children together “I love you” in separate texts.

The former San Diego Chargers linebacker was discovered by his girlfriend in his Oceanside, Calif., home when she returned from the gym. A call was placed to dispatchers afterwards reporting a possible suicide.

Other family members have spoken publicly since the news of Seau’s death was initially reported. Seau’s mother Luisa Seau sobbed in front of reporters at the scene.

Seau’s sister, Annette, asked for privacy as the family grieves, saying, “My brother was a loving brother and a caring citizen.”

Chargers owner Dean Spanos talked to KUSI News in San Diego shortly after his death and commented on Seau staying true to his roots in San Diego.

Spanos remembered the Chargers inducting Seau into the Chargers Hall of Fame last year and “you could hear the roar of the fans and the love and appreciate of this guy.”

Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins has the full list of players:

An ESPN article from 2011 details their sudden and tragic deaths. Culver and Griggs died within 18 months of one another from a plane crash and car accident, respectively. Lee and Bush died of cardiac arrest in 2011, while Whitley and Mims were discovered dead in their apartments due to a drug overdose and an enlarged heart, respectively, in 1998. Miller also died in ‘98 after being struck twice by lightning.

Former San Diego Chargers LB Junior Seau is dead of a gunshot wound to the chest, according to police in Oceanside, California. Police confirmed that Seau’s death is being treated as a suicide.

Moments after news broke of Seau’s death, former and current NFL players took to Twitter to send out thoughts, prayers and memories of the San Diego legend.

Police said a woman called police around 9:30 a.m. PT and reported that she had found Seau unconscious with a gunshot wound to the chest. Police responded and found Seau’s body in one of the bedrooms.

Seau’s family, including his distraught mother, are on the scene.