There are people in or around the town of Oceanside, Calif., who just got an express trip to the place where the red guy with the horns and pitchfork does his business. There are few things more disgusting than a robbery that affects the family of a man who just died, but that's what happened last week to the family of Junior Seau.
Just five days after the great linebacker took his own life, some sorry excuses for humanity broke into Seau's home, went through cabinets in the garage, and stole a bicycle that belonged to a friend of Seau's.
Oceanside police Lt. Leonard Mata said that the stolen bike is gray with chrome fenders and a black seat, and there are 143 spokes in each wheel. Whoever broke in didn't enter the house -- just the garage. Nothing else was taken. The estimated value of the bike is approximately $500.
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On May 2, at approximately 9:35 a.m., Seau's girlfriend placed a 911 call indicating that she had found the body of the future Hall of Fame linebacker in a spare bedroom of his home. The death was suspected to be, and was later ruled, a suicide.
Seau, a 12-time Pro Bowler and six-time First-Team All-Pro, was selected fifth overall in the 1990 NFL draft after an outstanding collegiate career at USC. He played with the San Diego Chargers through the 2002 season, spent 2003-2005 with the Miami Dolphins, and then signed with the New England Patriots in time for the 2006 season. In New England's perfect regular season of 2007, he played in all 16 games and started four. Seau first retired after that season, only to come back and play for the Patriots in 2008 and 2009 before finally leaving the NFL for good.
"I'm going to go surf," he told Showtime upon his January 2010 retirement announcement. "Whatever happens, I can honestly say, that that probably was my last game."
[Video: Michael Silver's memories of Junior Seau]
Seau committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest, which is similar to the way former Chicago Bears great Dave Duerson ended his life. Duerson shot himself in the chest on Feb. 17, 2011 -- the method used so that his brain could be examined for symptoms of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), a trauma-induced disease common to NFL players and others who have received repeated blows to the head. Seau's family has considered, and reconsidered, donating Seau's brain to science so that he can be examined for CTE symptoms.