EDITOR’S NOTE: This post is by Brian Milne, founder of the BallHyped Sports News Service and Sports Blog Voting Community. BallHyped offers sports news content like this post to blogs and news sites free of charge. Contact us for more info at BallHyped.net.
Junior Seau’s friends and family took to the water Sunday to pay tribute to the former NFL linebacker, who was also an avid surfer and paddle boarder following his playing days for the San Diego Chargers.
The 43-year-old Seau stunned the San Diego area and the NFL community when he reportedly committed suicide at his Oceanside beach house on Wednesday.
During Sunday’s ceremony, those who paddled out chanted his name and the No. 55, Seau’s number at USC and for much of his NFL career.
Ceremony’s like Sunday’s paddle out are common in the Southern California surfing community for lost surfers and watermen. The fact that this is how the Oceanside community decided to honor Seau, shows just how much he meant to them … on and off the field.
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who played with Seau in San Diego and tweeted the linebacker “the greatest teammate a young guy could ask for,” was among those who paddled out for the ceremony.
“Just got back from paddle out at Jr’s surf spot in Oceanside,” Brees tweeted afterward. “Thousands of people on land and in the water to honor Jr. Unbelievable site.”
I was fortunate to meet both Brees and Seau while covering the Chargers’ training camp in 2002, and I have to say, both were the quarterbacks of their respective units.
While Brees commanded the offense, Seau commanded the defense and had an even larger presence with the overall football team. He led them in chants during pre-scrimmage warm-ups. He led them during scrimmages. He led them in the post-game huddle. He even led the team in their golf cart races across the practice facility at lunch time.
Heck, Seau even had then hardball head coach Marty Schottenheimer laughing and joking from time to time during what was an otherwise strict and focused preseason campaign for the Chargers that season.
Seau was truly a player who teammates gravitated toward, and he had a presence that emanated from locker room.
Fast forward 10 years, and while his playing days might have been over, Seau (contrary to some ESPN Radio reports suggesting he was a recluse) still did plenty in around the San Diego community — whether it was the work he did for kids in need, or even his random appearances at his popular San Diego restaurant, SEAU’S.
That much is evident from the massive memorial the community set up in front of his restaurant, and the thousands of people who poured out their support for him and his family during Sunday’s memorial.
It’s just too bad he’s wasn’t here to see just how much he meant to the San Diego community.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This post is by Brian Milne, founder of the BallHyped Sports News Service and Sports Blog Voting Community. BallHyped offers sports news content like this post to blogs and news sites free of charge. Contact us for more info at BallHyped.net.
