Background and career
Tiaina Baul "Junior" Seau Jr. (; SAY-ow; January 19, 1969 – May 2, 2012) was an American professional football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the San Diego Chargers for most of his career, he is regarded as one of the greatest linebackers of all time. Seau played college football for the USC Trojans, earning All-American honors and winning Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year in 1989. He was selected fifth overall in the 1990 NFL draft by the Chargers, where he spent his first 13 seasons. During his San Diego tenure, he received 12 consecutive Pro Bowl and six first-team All-Pro selections. Seau also led the league in solo tackles in 1994 en route to the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XXIX. After being traded from the Chargers, Seau was a member of the Miami Dolphins for three seasons. He played his last four seasons with the New England Patriots, where he was a member of the 2007 team that won all 16 regular season games and appeared in Super Bowl XLII. Three years after his retirement, Seau committed suicide in 2012. Seau was later diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease found in other deceased NFL players, drawing further scrutiny towards the health of football athletes. He was posthumously inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
Seau was born on January 19, 1969, in San Diego, California, the fifth child of Tiaina Seau Sr. and Luisa Mauga Seau of Aunu'u, American Samoa. Tiaina Sr.'s grandfather was a village chief in Pago Pago. Tiaina Sr. worked at a rubber factory and was a school custodian, and Luisa worked at the commissary of Camp Pendleton in Southern California and a laundromat. After Seau was born, the family moved back to American Samoa for several years before returning to San Diego; Seau did not learn to speak English until he was seven years old. At home, Seau and his three brothers had to sleep in the family's one-car garage. Seau attended Oceanside High School in Oceanside, where he lettered in football, basketball, and track and field. As a football player, Seau was a starter at linebacker and tight end, and as a senior, he was named the Avocado League offensive MVP and led the 18-member Oceanside Pirates team to the San Diego 2A championship. Parade selected Seau to its high school All-American team. In basketball, as a senior, he was named the California Interscholastic Federation San Diego Section Player of the Year. He helped his team win the 1987 Lt. James Mitchell Tournament and make third place in the Mt. Carmel Invitational. In track and field, he was the Avocado League champion in the shot put. Seau was also named to California's all-academic team with a 3.6 grade-point average.
After graduating from high school, Seau attended the University of Southern California (USC). He had to sit out from football in his freshman season due to his 690 SAT score on the college entrance exam, which was 10 points short of USC's minimum score for freshman eligibility. Seau told Sports Illustrated: "I was labeled a dumb jock. I went from being a four-sport star to an ordinary student at USC. I found out who my true friends were. Nobody stuck up for me—not our relatives, best friends or neighbors. There's a lot of jealousy among Samoans, not wanting others to get ahead in life, and my parents got an earful at church: 'We told you he was never going to make it.' " This prompted him to apologize to his coaches, teachers, and principal at Oceanside High. Seau lettered in his final two seasons with the USC Trojans, 1988 and 1989, posting 19 sacks in 1989 en route to a unanimous first-team All-American selection.
After three years as a Trojan, Seau entered the NFL draft after his junior season and was chosen in the first round of the 1990 NFL draft by Bobby Beathard's San Diego Chargers as the fifth overall draft pick. Seau quickly became one of the most popular players on the Chargers, receiving the nickname "Tasmanian Devil", after the wild antics of the cartoon character. He became the face of the Chargers franchise and a San Diego sports icon. Seau started 15 of the 16 games he played in during his rookie season, and was named an alternate to the 1991 Pro Bowl after recording 85 tackles. In 1991, he picked up 129 tackles and seven sacks and was named to the 1992 Pro Bowl, the first of 12 consecutive Pro Bowls for Seau. In 1992, he was awarded the George Halas Trophy by the Newspaper Enterprise Association as the NFL's top defensive player, NFL Defensive Player of the Year by Football Digest, AFC Defensive Player of the Year by United Press International, and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) AFC Linebacker of the Year. He also won the NFLPA award in 1993 and 1994. He started no fewer than 13 games for the Chargers over each of the ensuing 11 seasons, registering a career-high 155 tackles in 1994, when he led his team to a championship appearance in Super Bowl XXIX. In one of the greatest games in his career, he recorded 16 tackles in the 1994 AFC Championship Game while playing with a pinched nerve in his neck in a 17–13 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Despite San Diego's 1–15 record in 2000, the NFL Alumni Association named him their Linebacker of the Year. In 2002, his final year with the Chargers, he logged a then-career low 83 tackles and missed his final Pro Bowl due to an ankle injury.
On April 16, 2003, Seau was traded to the Miami Dolphins for a conditional draft choice. He started 15 games that season for the 10-6 Dolphins and was one of their standout defensive players. However, in 2004, a torn pectoral muscle limited Seau to eight games, 68 tackles, and one sack. He started five of the first seven games he played in with the Dolphins in 2005, but was placed on injured reserve on November 24 with an achilles tendon injury. On March 6, 2006, Seau was released by the Dolphins.
Seau announced his retirement at an emotional press conference on August 14, 2006. He called it his "graduation" because he was not going to stop working. He contended that he was merely moving on to the next phase of his life.
