One week after the suicide of NFL great Junior Seau, family members are coordinating funeral services and the City of San Diego is planning a Celebration of Life event for the former Charger.
But for many who knew Seau, they're still searching for answers to why the retired linebacker shot himself in the chest with a gun inside his Oceanside home on May 2.
Sports Illustrated has several articles on the topic with an image of #55's smiling face on the cover.
Sportswriter Jim Trotter spoke with friends and former teammates about who Seau was on and off the field, asking them about past injuries and how the powerful lineman reacted to them in his playing days.
Junior Seau led by example, former players told Trotter.
"Seau ignored pain and insisted if you could walk, you could play," Trotter writes.
LaDainian "LT" Tomlinson who said Seau was an icon who he looked up to his entire life, said he felt awful Junior didn't have someone he could confide in.
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“I feel awful that Junior didn’t feel he was close enough to anybody that he could say, ‘Look, something isn’t right.’ He didn’t feel there was anybody, and we all need someone we can go to and say, ‘There’s something going on with me,’ Tomlinson told the magazine.
"That’s the sad thing, but that’s who Junior was. He didn’t want us to know he was hurting on the field, so off the field he certainly wasn’t going to say anything.”
The edition also includes a piece on football players and depression. If you don't subscribe, the edition is on newsstands now.
