NY Football Icons Mourn Junior Seau; Carson 'Not Shocked'
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- The football community is in mourning after the apparent suicide of former Chargers, Dolphins and Patriots great Junior Seau.
"It is a tremendous, tremendous loss for those of us who played against Junior, have known Junior for many years," WFAN's Boomer Esiason said Thursday alongside morning show co-host Craig Carton. "I can only tell you that -- with the exception of some of the times he ran into me on the field, which (were) pretty sudden and pretty violent -- he couldn't have been more of a gentleman and a nicer guy to me off the field."
Seau couldn't be saved after he was found Wednesday by his girlfriend, unconscious with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to police. He was 43.
"Not Junior Seau!" Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz tweeted. "He was my idol growing up. True professional and a role model to all. Rest In Peace Mr. Seau."
"At a loss for words right now," Big Blue defensive end Justin Tuck wrote via Twitter. "R.I.P Junior Seau."
Many have already questioned whether Seau's career could have been a factor in his apparent suicide. Police said no note was found, leaving his family and friends at a loss as to what might drive the defensive great to kill himself.
"Another NFL great lost, and for what?" said former Jets quarterback Ray Lucas, according to the New York Daily News. "Maybe someone will start paying attention. I'm going to work with the PAST concussion program just to make sure it doesn't happen to me."
Giants legend Harry Carson, who has been outspoken about the effects of brain trauma in football, revealed details last year of his own battle with suicidal tendencies from post-concussion syndrome.
"When I heard it (the Seau news), I have to say in the past I would have been shocked," Carson told the New York Post. "But I'm not shocked anymore."
"I knew how I felt as a player, having those thoughts of suicide, and you're going through something and it's like you can't really explain what you're dealing with, and it's neurological," he added. "You have these deep bouts of depression, and people think you're depressed because you're not playing anymore. You're depressed because you're having neurological issues that are very difficult to describe."
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