The Tuesday Stew: Junior Seau, Terrell Suggs, and the Sarah Phillips Scam 

It was a very interesting and sad week for the NFL. This is a shorter version of “The Tuesday Stew” as I try to focus as much attention on Junior Seau’s death rather then the rest of the football world…perspective people.

Main Story of the Week: Junior Seau

Coming from a person who lives in San Diego, I can tell you that the earth stood still on the day news broke of Junior Seau’s death.

Wednesday was just like any other day, writing, studying, and working. Sometime around 10 or 11 a.m. in my Journalism class I read “Junior Seau Dead”. I read the news moments after it being reported, and I read it out loud. My friend David, with whom I always joke around with in class and we had just finished an over five minute laugh fest, went pale.

“What?!?!” he said.

“Yeah, he’s dead. Says so right here,” I told him.

We went back and forth, him being so shocked he didn’t even believe me. I honestly hadn’t thought much of the whole thing until I saw his expression. The word quickly shifted around the classroom, given that we were all on our computers, and texts, calls, and emails started fluttering in.

Texts read with “Did you hear the news?” or something like, “I can’t believe this happened,” only shortly after the initial announcement. Then it was reported it was likely a suicide. If rooms could explode with emotion, my class did. People were near tears, not being able to comprehend what they had just read.

Well, I thought, it only makes sense the journalism class would find out so quickly, and I left class somberly. I didn’t even leave class with the daily smile from my teacher, just blank expressions all around as I left class.

Friends came fluttering toward me asking me if I heard the news, even my family texted me asking if I knew what had just happened. I was in shock, but still in denial. I wasn’t letting the reality sink in yet. People who always came to me for the latest sports news already knew what had happened, hours after its occurrence. This must be a lot bigger than I originally anticipated.

Lunch, and the rest of that day was very somber, very sad, and very hard to take in. I can’t express this enough, and there are no exaggerations, the great city of San Diego was just slow that day. My Subway didn’t taste as good, the people at Starbucks weren’t as happy, the streets seemed quieter, and this event still hadn’t hit me… until finally, it did.

I saw Seau’s mom crying on the NBC San Diego News, and it just hit me right in the face that Junior Seau was dead, and that he had taken his own life. The mom crying just exemplified what each and every person in San Diego felt at that time, “Why?”

We may never know, but Seau was a great person on and off the field, and shall be deeply missed. Coincidently schools in San Diego are having Suicide Awareness Day tomorrow, where I’m sure people will be able to better comprehend suicide.

San Diego will never forget you Seau, never.

Question of the Week: Why did Junior Seau take his own Life?

There is no answer, and there may not be one for a while. It is reported that Seau’s brain will be donated to science, and that may shed some light on the matter. I just hope we can take something out of this horrendous loss. Seau always wanted to help people, and I think we owe it to him to take something out of his death, and make new developments to help prevent suicide. To help NFL players once they retire to have meaningful lives post NFL. To help people get the counseling they need. To make something good out of a terrible situation, we owe it to Junior.

May you Rest In Peace.

The NFL Wrap Up:

1) The NFL needs to show some evidence. All four players suspended for the bounty case have appealed their suspensions, and rightfully so. The players and the union claim they weren’t provided with substantial evidence on the actions of the players. The media doesn’t know any evidence, and it appears nobody really does. Message to the NFL: I agree with you, keep your sources private, but still provide evidence.

2) Terrell Suggs tore his Achilles, and that’s a crushing blow to the Ravens. A Defensive Player of the Year, likely out for the whole 2012 season. Suggs says he will be able to return in November, but there can’t be a time table until his surgery today. Hope it goes well, for Suggs’ well being, and the Ravens’.

3) Andrew Luck got some terrific rookie minicamp reviews, and I’m excited. They say he wasn’t rattled and very professional, which is what everybody wanted to hear. Now, Luck will have to spend some time away from organized team camps to finish up at Stanford, but he will be able to make back for lost time. Stanford ends school on June 7^th (my birthday incase anybody cares) and then Luck can return. However, Luck reportedly has plans to workout with receivers before then.

4) Ryan Tannehill says he knows about 80-85 percent of the Dolphins playbook. Great stuff, and if he’s not pulling anybodies leg, a great sign. Knowing the playbook is usually one of the hardest transitions from college to NFL, and it’s good to hear Tannehill is already running ahead of schedule.

5) Ben Roethlisberger graduated from Miami (Ohio) University on Sunday, eight years after leaving school for the NFL. He has a Bachelor of Science in Education now, and good for him. Hopefully his graduation ceremony wasn’t as long as the over three hour one I attended over the weekend at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Non NFL Related Wrap Up:

a) Some guy by the name of Albert Pujols hit a home run recently, good for him!

b) Sarah Phillips, man is that a creepy story. Took me forever to read, but head on over to deadspin.com and look for all the Sarah Phillips articles you can find. Not for the faint of heart, and something you shouldn’t read at midnight.

c) Cole Hamels admitted to hitting Nationals prodigy Bryce Harper on purpose. Well that was stupid. He got a five game suspension for that. First off he had no reason to hit him other than Harper being a rookie. Two, why would you admit it? I’m all for honesty, but that’s just bad business. Hamels is losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in the five “games” he’s suspended for.

Recommendations of the Week:

i) Tell the people you love that you love them. Tell them how life would be so much more miserable without them. Go up to someone who gets picked on and say, “Hey this sucks, but it’ll pass.” People sometimes think that ending their lives is an easy way out, and they do it because they don’t think people care about them. What those people don’t notice, is how much people genuinely love them, and by the time that’s made evident, it’s too late.