If the loss of San Diego Chargers linebacker Junior Seau wasn’t bad enough, now the San Diego Police are reporting that his Oceanside, Calif., home was broken into on Wednesday, May 7, just five days following his suicide. To add insult on top of death, some brazen individual with no respect for Seau’s legacy – and apparently zero respect for No. 55′s surviving next of kin – broke into the former All-Pro’s garage and stole a $500 bike. The burglar, it seems, forced his way in via a doggie door to the garage and exited through the garage door with the bike, a beach cruiser, which actually belonged to a friend of Junior’s.
SUPER JUNIOR: Seau even had Clark Kent's hairdo. He certainly appeared invincible - to most.
This is just a sad reflection of the society we live in when someone has the audacity to invade a recently deceased person’s home looking to make a quick score. It’s been exactly two weeks since Seau took his own life by using a .357 Magnum to fire a single, fatal gunshot wound to his chest. It’s taken me until today to jump in the car and drive past his oceanfront property on the strand. I didn’t want to swing by sooner just to see the hundreds of mourners hovering near his homestead, but I did want to drive by simply to pay my respects.
ALL'S QUIET: I took this shot this afternoon as I passed by Junior's home. Note the peeling Patriots' decal.
As a New England fan for the past 40 years, I was both surprised and pleased when Junior announced he was joining the Patriots just four days after retiring from the Chargers in August 2006. A formidable foe for so many years, now he was going to be a mainstay in the middle for the Pats. At 6-3 and 250 pounds, he would be adding muscle on top of experience to New England’s already stout defense. A year later, he helped lead New England to an undefeated regular season and its fifth Super Bowl appearance, only to come up just short of winning the coveted Lombardi Trophy. In the down-to-the-wire, 17-14 loss to the New York Giants, he recorded two solo tackles that day in Glendale, Arizona.
In November 1995, I had the pleasure of meeting Junior and shaking his hand during one of Upper Deck’s annual media retreats. That year’s get-together took place at Upper Deck headquarters in Carlsbad, Calif., just a few miles from Seau’s home. As a local sports hero, he was asked to join the retreat for an afternoon to participate in a special holographic presentation put on by former Upper Deck vice president, Warren Molee. Seau was the guest guinea pig, so to speak, as he happily sat on a rotating chair while Molee shot holographic images of the then-Chargers standout. It was another ground-breaking industry innovation that Upper Deck was introducing on its football trading cards and Junior Seau was the featured star. With his chiseled muscles and curly tufts of jet black hair, he almost resembled Superman. And to many folks, he was.
But even Superman had his demons. Rest in peace, Junior.
SURF DADDY: Many locals say Seau enjoyed surfing almost as much as he did playing football.
Terry Melia is the former longtime Public Relations Manager for the Upper Deck Company and a freelance writer living in San Diego.