The title of this post says it all for me. It’s just a shame that a young man that seemed to have so much to live for would take his life.  The young man I’m referring to is Junior Seau.

I first learned of his death during lunch with a vendor and a co-worker.  I couldn’t hear the TV from where we sat, but I could see the headline. I’m not sure exactly what I said when I read the headline, but I may have said “Oh shit” pretty loud. Whatever it was I said, it certainly got the attention of the people I was with. My co-worker asked me what I thought caused the death, and without hesitation I said that I thought he committed suicide. Within a few minutes that’s exactly what was posted on the ticker under the headline.

While I write this, the story isn’t complete.  No one knows what caused this very well liked person to take his life. But for those of us that follow sports know that there is a terrible trend happening with retired football players.  The story of Dave Duerson comes to mind.  So do the stories of Ray Easterling and Mike Webster, and there are many more.  But the story that came to mind the other day at lunch, the one that made me immediately believe Junior Seau committed suicide, is one I remembered about Seau from about a year and a half ago. After being arrested on domestic violence charge and released, the SUV he was driving plunged off a cliff in Carlsbad, CA.in October of 2010.

In the coming weeks and months we will learn more about what led to this terrible event.  In the meantime, all I can say is what a shame.