Paul
Oliver,
a former defensive back for the University of Georgia and the San
Diego Chargers, was found dead this week, apparently from a
self-inflicted gunshot.
His death marks
the latest in a string of suicides among former professional football
players.
"Everyone in
the Chargers family is sad today after hearing the news about Paul,"
a statement from the NFL team said. "He was part of our family
for five years. At just 29 years old, he still had a lifetime in
front of him. Right now all of our thoughts and prayers are with his
family during this most difficult time."
Oliver leaves
behind a wife and two children, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
reported.
"We
appreciate all the thoughts and prayers," Oliver's family said
in a statement
to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
"We request privacy in the wake of this tragic loss."
Mark Richt, coach
of the University of Georgia Bulldogs, called it "a very sad
day."
"I just want
to say it's been rough," he told reporters. "I just want to
tell everybody in his family that we're thinking about them and we
love them. We'll do whatever we can to help."
Police found
Oliver's body Tuesday night at the bottom of a set of stairs in a
home in Marietta, Georgia, Cobb County police spokesman Sgt. Dana
Pierce said. A family member had called 911.
The county
medical examiner ruled the death a suicide by handgun and gave police
authorization to release the cause.
Oliver played for
the Chargers from 2007 to 2011, recording 144 tackles in 57 games.
A former
teammate, Eric Weddle, described Oliver as "charismatic, funny
but also quiet and reserved," The Union-Tribune reported. "He
never said a bad word about anyone. Just a good, genuine guy."
Oliver's high
school coach in Georgia, Bruce Cobleigh, said Oliver was a leader.
"This is a
real tough situation for everybody because this isn't Paul,"
Cobleigh told CNN's Brooke Baldwin. "This is surprising,
shocking. He was really outgoing. He was really well-liked, a leader,
hard, hard worker.'
Cobleigh said he
hadn't talked with his former player in recent years as much as when
he was in Georgia, but the coach had fielded calls much of Wednesday
from former teammates of Oliver who were all surprised by his death.
The circumstances
of his apparent suicide were not immediately clear.
Suicides of some
other former NFL players involved brain injuries.
Star
NFL linebacker Junior Seau was 43 when he took his own life in May
2012. The National Institutes of Health later found he
suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy,
or CTE, a neurodegenerative brain disease that can follow multiple
hits to the head.
A
study published in December in the journal Brain looked at brain
tissue of 34 professional football players after they died.All
but one showed
evidence of disease.
In April 2012,
former Atlanta Falcons safety Ray Easterling, 62, committed suicide.
An autopsy found signs of CTE.
In February 2011,
former Chicago Bears defensive back Dave Duerson, 50, committed
suicide with a gunshot to the chest, rather than his head, so his
brain could be researched for CTE. Boston University researchers
found the disease in his brain.
In
December 2012, Jovan Belcher of the Kansas City Chiefskilled
his girlfriend before
taking his own life. His remains were not tested for CTE, media
reports said.
The
NFL launched
a crisis support line in
July 2012 for players, former players and their families. Called NFL
Life Line, it operates independently from the NFL and promises to
keep all calls confidential.
"There is no
higher priority for the National Football League than the health and
wellness of our players," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote
in a letter to personnel and fans at the time.
SCRIPTURES
WISDOM
OF SOLOMON 1:12 Seek
not death in the error of your life: and pull not upon yourselves
destruction with the works of your hands.
2
MACCABEES 4:7 But
after the death of Seleucus, when Antiochus, called Epiphanes, took
the kingdom, Jason the brother of Onias laboured underhand to be high
priest,
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