Junior Seau reported dead

[steff]

12:06 PM PDT -- Junior's father has arrived to the scene. Family members are crying hysterically.

12:00 PM PDT -- the San Diego Chargers just released a statement, claiming, "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."

11:45 AM PDT -- Cops will be giving a news conference about the situation any moment -- we will be streaming the audio LIVE.

11:33 AM PDT -- Law enforcement sources tell us ... Seau died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.

Back in 2011, former NFL star Dave Duerson shot himself in the chest ... and explained in his suicide note that he wanted his brain donated to a research center because he believed the blows he took to the head during his football career caused him to become mentally impaired.

11:27 AM PDT -- We're told a 911 call came in around 10:00 AM. No word on who made the call.

11:26 AM PDT -- The North County Times is reporting Seau's body was discovered by his housekeeper. The L.A. Times is saying it was found by his girlfriend.

11:23 AM PDT -- The coroner just arrived on scene.

11:20 AM PDT -- The San Diego Chargers have posted a tweet saying, "We don’t have any information right now on the Junior Seau situation. We pray he's ok."

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NFL legend Junior Seau was found dead in his home in Oceanside, CA ... and a law enforcement source at the scene tells us cops believe he shot himself.

Seau was 43-years-old ... and leaves behind 4 kids and an ex-wife.

Cops are currently at Seau's home -- located in San Diego County -- and were seen talking with a man who was inside the house and appeared distraught.

We're told Seau sent text messages to his ex-wife and 3 kids yesterday saying, "Love you." We're told they all responded and didn't suspect anything was wrong. We're told he last saw his kids 3 weeks ago.

Sources close to Seau tell us family members didn't notice any signs of depression in recent weeks.

Seau was a beast in the NFL -- skyrocketing to fame thanks to his explosive play with the San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots. The USC standout was selected in the first round of the NFL draft in 1990 and played in the league for 20 years.




tmz.com

[steff]

It has now been confirmed....Junior Seau has died...press conference about to be held.

[steff]

His mother speaking at the press conference is just heart breaking...... so incredibly sad to see her suffering like this.

[Flying Horse]

San Diego Chargers "in shock" after Junior Seau's death

The San Diego Chargers issued a statement on their website regarding "the passing" of their former Pro Bowl linebacker Junior Seau, who reportedly killed himself in his Oceanside, California, home Wednesday.

"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 statement said.

After TMZ and other media outlets reported a police presence at his home early Wednesday, the Chargers tweeted that they had no information on the matter. Minutes later, they announced that a conference call with Coach Norv Turner had been canceled before issuing the statement on Seau's passing.

"The outpouring of emotion is no surprise," the team tweeted shortly after 3 p.m. ET.

Seau played 20 seasons in the NFL, 13 of which came with the Chargers. He played his last seven seasons with the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots.

[Forever Sunshine]

Ex-teammate: Junior Seau had 1,500 concussions

If a 'Grade 1' concussion means you see stars after a hit, Plummer says he's had 1,000 in his career, and his ex-teammate, Junior Seau, had 1,500.

That's one thousand, five hundred concussions.

content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2012/05/ex-teammate-junior-seau-had-1500-concussions/1#.T6Qmmuh_uAg

[steff]

May 4, 2012 13:59:00 GMT -5 Forever Sunshine said:

Ex-teammate: Junior Seau had 1,500 concussions

If a 'Grade 1' concussion means you see stars after a hit, Plummer says he's had 1,000 in his career, and his ex-teammate, Junior Seau, had 1,500.

That's one thousand, five hundred concussions.

content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2012/05/ex-teammate-junior-seau-had-1500-concussions/1#.T6Qmmuh_uAg

his family has agreed to let his brain be studied. At this point over 1,200, that's ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED former NFL players have filed lawsuits against the NFL related to concussions. Shooting themselves in the chest has become the norm to preserve their brains for studies. I believe I saw that Seau was the 5th player to do so in the past few years.

I love football & also love a good clean football hit. I never want to see any player get hurt and the hits are getting harder & the players bigger & stronger. I was glad to see last year that new helmets were being tested by certain players to help reduce the possibility of concussion. I think the NFL, coaches, teams and even the players themselves need to be more aware of hits during the games & anything that rattles their heads. I know player will say they are fine & try to get back into the game. A new tactic in keeping them out is to take their helmet away until they clear medical in game. But then we still hear stories like Colt McCoy being sent back in by a coach after basically blacking out after a vicious hit. That needs to stop. Winning ISN'T everything when it means that you are mentally an 80 yr old man before you are age 40. Jim McMahon from the SuperBowl winning Bears doesn't remember ANY of his own career. None of it. Not even his amazing superbowl performance. It's all gone for him. Chris Henry was an incredibly talented, but extremely troubled player. After his tragic death at a very young age (26), his brain was looked at and found to have literally dead space/holes in it from concussions. He had the brain of an 80-90 yr old man. It's now believed that so many of his off field problems were caused by the damage done to his brain thru football/concussions. The parts of his brain that control reason/reaction were almost mush. His brain scared the NFL into becoming much more pro-active in researching concussion damage.

This latest rash of NFL suicides should scare them into starting to move faster in their research & development.