What happened to Junior Seau

The death of Pro Football Hall of Famer Junior Seau is mentioned in American Sports Story Episode 6. Although Aaron Hernandez, portrayed by Josh Rivera, is the main character in FX’s American Sports StoryHernandez and Seau never played on the same NFL team but share one key and tragic link. As shown in American Sports Story episode 6, Seau died by suicide after playing in the NFL and dedicating his life to professional football. American Sports Story Includes various scenes of Hernandez enduring serious head injuries that were mostly left untreated and contributed to his postmortem stage 3 CTE diagnosis.

Seau was a celebrated NFL linebacker who played for three separate organizations during his nearly 20-year career. The Then the San Diego Chargers drafted him as the 5th overall pick in the 1990 NFL Draft after he was an All-American standout. at the University of California. Seau played 13 seasons with the Chargers before being traded to the Miami Dolphins in 2003 and later signed with the New England Patriots in 2006 before officially retiring in 2010. Since the Patriots drafted Hernandez in the 2010 NFL Draft, he and Seau have never The opportunity to cross paths as teammates.

Junior Seau died by suicide 3 years after retiring from the NFL

Saw was found with a gunshot wound to the chest

Seau was named the NFL’s Man of the Year in 1994 when he was 25, the same age Hernandez was when he received a life sentence for the murder of Odin Lloyd. Hernandez died by suicide in his prison cell in 2017 at the age of 27. Seo also died by suicide on May 2, 2012 at the age of 43. Sue was found at his home with a gunshot wound to his chest in Oceanside, California. Although a suicide note was not discovered, authorities declared the incident a suicide. The lyrics to the country song “Who I Ain’t” by Matt Kennon were found written on a piece of paper in Seau’s kitchen.

A scene from Younger Seau’s headline-grabbing death by suicide is depicted in American Sports Story due to the link between his and Hernandez’s postmortem diagnosis of CTE. In the series, Hernandez briefly noted the news in the New England Patriots locker room as Seau’s former teammates were stunned. Hernandez later returns to his house in North Attleborough, Massachusetts after the alleged shooting of two people outside a Boston nightclub where his fiancee Sheyanna Jenkins is also shocked by the news of Sue’s death, watching a report on television. Hernandez, preoccupied with the alleged events of the night before, had zero emotional response To Sou’s death in the series.

Junior Seau was diagnosed with CTE despite no reported history with concussions

American Sports Story uses Seau’s death to foreshadow Hernandez’s similar fate

Junior Seau was never diagnosed with a concussion during his 20 seasons in the NFL and never missed a game due to concussion-like symptoms. It wasn’t until after his family donated his brain tissue that Sue was officially diagnosed with CTE by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in 2013. This highlights the tragic reality of NFL athletes who suffer Undetected or potentially neglected head traumas and injuries without official concussion diagnoses. It also speaks to the combative incentive that NFL players have to hurt opposing players and the unspoken expectation in the NFL that athletes must play through their injuries.

Seau summed up the combative nature of the NFL itselfsaid “To beat your will on another player in hopes that the player quits on you and allows you to do what you need to do at your pace – that’s the name of the game, to make your guy surrender. And once he surrenders, people don’t stomp on him; Go on to the next guy“(by ESPN).

This feeling is echoed in American Sports Story How Hernandez plays through a high ankle sprain and tells a trainer to put his dislocated shoulder back to continue playing. Although there are other factors in the case of Seau, including An arrest for domestic violence, severe gambling debt, and a near-fatal car crash in 2010, American Sports Story Uses Sue’s death by suicide to foreshadow Hernandez’s similar fate.

Junior Seau’s family is suing the NFL over his brain injuries

They reached a confidential settlement with the NFL in 2018

Following the release of Seau’s CTE diagnosis in January 2013, Junior Seau’s family filed a lawsuit against the NFL for the unacknowledged brain injuries Seau suffered during his career. The wrongful death lawsuit was not settled until 2018 yet Seau’s family opts out of $675 million concussion settlement NFL offered to 20,000 retired playerswhich pays athletes diagnosed with CTE up to $5 million (via NPR). Ultimately, Seau’s family dismissed their lawsuit after reaching a confidential settlement with the NFL. As shown in American Sports StorySeau and Hernandez are just two of the hundreds of NFL players diagnosed with CTE after their deaths.

Sources: ESPN, NPR