Many thousands of column inches and much internet bandwidth has already been used on eulogies for the short life of Junior Seau, who apparently committed suicide at the age of 43 at his home in San Diego.
The superficial verdicts are wearily familiar; gifted athlete, blah blah blah, stellar football career, blah blah blah, pillar of society, blah blah blah, great guy, blah blah blah. By all accounts, Junior Seau claimed to be happy and doing what he wanted to do in his life. All very nice, and in keeping of the Western desire to not speak ill of the departed.
Most of this is nice and irrelevant piffle. A 43 year old man with a stellar sporting career and an almost mythical public image, in what should be the prime of his life, goes into a room at his house, pulls out a gun and shoots himself dead. That speaks to a man who had problems, problems that he despaired of.
Seau's death is not some tawdry story of a rags-to-riches-to-rags roller-coaster, of a life destroyed by addictions or crime. However, it is clear that beneath his happy smile, Seau had problems and demons. He was divorced, and had been involved in incidents of domestic violence. It is known that many famous athletes struggle in life after they retire from their original calling. That Seau struggled with life after football would not be uncommon. However, struggle and suicide are different symptoms of malaise.
As one would expect, not many people want to get into that discussion are at this time. One of the few ex players to contribute is one of Seau's former team-mates, Gary Plummer. In this thoughtful interview, Plummer sketches out some of the factors that could have contributed to the decision of Junior Seau to end his life.