Most people are going to remember Junior Seau as the great football player he was. Understandably so. He was brilliant, a combination of speed and power that makes me think he might have missed his calling running the ball on the offense.
But that's not the enduring memory I have of Seau, who fatally shot himself in the chest on Wednesday morning.
Things are a bit grainy because my memory's going back further than his NFL domination with the Chargers or NCAA domination with USC.
Seau played for Oceanside High in the 1980s, and at the time, I worked at what was then called the Oceanside Blade-Tribune. This afforded me the opportunity to see a game—I think it was against rival El Camino. A basketball game.
Without the pads, without the helmet, one could see Seau in the rawest form. And he was a man. The Man. Among boys.
He looked like he belonged in the NFL even then as he moved up and down the court and stopped players in their tracks. He was the most muscular high school player I had ever seen—or have seen since. He had the intensity of a linebacker, which wasn't surprising, but I seem to recall his patting the referee on the shoulder in crunch time.
He had broad shoulders that stretched well beyond his mullet. I believe it was a mullet; like I said, I'm a little hazy, but his hair wasn't the most memorable aspect of his appearance.
Big, fast, strong. He ripped the ball away from an opponent and I was just left shaking my head. He was an extraordinary athlete. Orange County fans might remember Tony Gonzalez of Huntington Beach, who excelled at football and basketball. That was Junior Seau, except Seau was buffer and tougher in the paint.
Any success he had beyond Oceanside High was completely unsurprising to me. There are some guys who are special. You just know they have big things ahead of them.
Seau was one of the special ones. That was apparent even when he was still a boy which, today, is how I remember him.
It's how I usually remember him.
of him giving back to his community. And he gave big, plus he always remembered where he came from. That is what will be forever etched in my heart. God Bless him and his family.
Suicide, one of the most selfish things anyone can do.
Junior played for the Chargers, the local team, for 12 years & also played at USC. You couldn't use a picture of him from one of those teams? That is a Patriots uniform :(
http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-junior-seau-obit-pictures,0,1898805.photogallery
As I recall, they were different types of LBs. Taylor played 13 years and Seau played 20; I think if you look at Seau's career with the Chargers (which is comparable in length to Taylor's with the Giants) that Seau was a better player at the end of his Chargers career than Taylor was at the end of his Giants career -- and then Seau played another six or seven years on top of it. Statistically, most notably sacks, Taylor has a big advantage and was basically unmatched during the prime of his career, but Taylor was also on a much stronger team. Both are guys you had to account for, but it was probably easier for a team to address Seau than Taylor because of the players around them. Seau was unpredictable and that's what helped make him great. Off the field, I don't think there's any comparison that Seau was the better man. It's a good question: Based on the total package (including longevity, off the field, etc.) who would you take, LT or Junior?