Former San Diego Chargers great Junior Seau a ferocious but ebullient linebacker had been found dead his home.
Amid the grief, there was a stampede to find motivation what had pushed Seau to this end?
None of the researchers was aware that the brain they were examining was Seau's.
Junior Seau was a source of light and life until injuries from football snuffed that out.
In May, Junior Seau shot himself in the chest and died at age 43.
In May, former San Diego Chargers player Junior Seau shot himself in the chest.
The report showed Seau had CTE, a brain disease linked head trauma, which can lead to depression.
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Junior Seau, certain Hall of Fame National Football League Linebacker, was the essence of life force itself.
Seau is not the first former NFL player who killed himself, then was found to have CTE.
WSJ: Junior Seau: NIH Study Finds Football Star Had Brain Disease
"He emotionally detached himself and would kind of 'go away' for a little bit, " Tyler Seau said.
WSJ: Junior Seau: NIH Study Finds Football Star Had Brain Disease
Yet that is what the Seau parents face, at a level that is what is truly at risk.
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"Junior Seau was one of the greatest legends in USC football history, " USC Athletic Director Pat Haden said.
Researchers this month announced they discovered CTE in the brain of Junior Seau, who killed himself last summer.
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The days of parents dreaming their child can be the next Junior Seau are growing shorter and shorter.
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Another suicide Junior Seau's followed, and while Seau's motivations are unknown, a grim feeling lingers.
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Like former NFL player Dave Duerson, Seau apparently shot himself in the chest.
Seau's grieving mother cried loudly as she spoke outside the home just two hours after police were called there.
Seau was drafted into the NFL in the first round in 1990 out of the University of Southern California.
The autopsy confirmed Seau died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.
Seau amassed 1, 526 tackles, 56.5 sacks and 18 interceptions in his 20-season career.
Ross has said Seau was the heart and soul of that 1994 team.
Seau suffered sub-concussive and concussive blows to the head in the NFL, sometimes lacerating his face, court papers said.
That behavior, according to Tyler Seau and Junior's ex-wife Gina, included wild mood swings, irrationality, forgetfulness, insomnia and depression.
WSJ: Junior Seau: NIH Study Finds Football Star Had Brain Disease
"I was not surprised after learning a little about CTE that he had it, " Seau's 23-year-old son Tyler said.
WSJ: Junior Seau: NIH Study Finds Football Star Had Brain Disease
Most notably, the former All-Pro linebacker Junior Seau who committed suicide last May had it.
Seau and Duerson reportedly suffered from the same post-concussion, depression-like symptoms Easterling did.
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Tyler Seau played football through high school and for two years in college.
WSJ: Junior Seau: NIH Study Finds Football Star Had Brain Disease
Seau family friend Joe Gallagher said the former linebacker made a comment recently that appeared to indicate a possible issue.
The medical examiner's office, in a statement Thursday, said it was awaiting the family's decision regarding study of Seau's brain.
Seau may be just one of a trend as those 1 in 5 depressed players face adjustment to life after football.
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