Title/Author:
“Junior Seau: The Life
and Death of a Football Icon” by Jim Trotter
Tags:
Football (American),
biography, death, Chargers
Publish date:
October 27, 2015
Length:
240 pages
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very
good)
Review:
Tiaina
Baul “Junior” Seau is a name that even casual football fans recognize. He is considered to be one of the best
linebackers to ever play professional football. Growing up in southern
California, he dreamed of playing for his hometown team, the San Diego
Chargers. After a great high school and college football career, his dream came
true when the Chargers made him a first round draft choice. He was charismatic, generous and a fan
favorite. Teammates and opponents alike respected him. He seemed to have the charmed life.
However,
as this biography by Jim Trotter reveals, it wasn’t always easy for Seau. Many did not realize this until his suicide
in May 2012. It was revealed that he suffered from chronic traumatic
encephalopathy (CTE) from repeated blows to the head. That disease has also been diagnosed in other
former professional football players and is a hot topic in the current discussion
on concussions in the sport. Therefore, when I picked up this book, I was
hoping that some insight would be shed into this disease and how players are
affected.
That
was not the case. The book is a good but typical sports biography. There is
excellent writing about Seau’s football career, especially his time with the
Chargers (he also played for the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots) and
how he was not only the best player on the field but also a leader in the
locker room and in the community. His charitable work and his successful
restaurant are mentioned prominently throughout the book. There are also
passages about the pitfalls many athletes encounter – excessive drinking,
marital infidelity, poor investments – that make Seau’s story typical of most
celebrities who get caught up in the high life.
Where
the book and Seau’s story takes a different turn is when he drove off an embankment
in 2010. While it was dismissed as one
of his many episodes of poor judgement while driving, not everyone believed
this to be the case. The author, through
interviews with many who were close to Seau, takes the reader through a journey
that reveals there was more to this incident than just drinking or bad
driving. It is the first exposure that
makes one believe there was something terribly wrong with Seau. Again, in both this book and in real life,
that doesn’t seem to be understood until he was found dead by his ex-wife on
May 2, 2012 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Here,
the book scratches the surface about Junior’s suffering from CTE and the
effects, but does not dig into that topic. Instead, the author focuses on how
the surviving members of Seau’s family are coping with their loss. Again, typical material for a biography of
this type but nothing that is earth-shattering.
This
book is one that football fans, especially Charger fans, will especially enjoy
as they will read about many of Seau’s exploits on the field and his happier
times. Readers who enjoy celebrity biographies will also enjoy it as the book
sticks with the tried and true format.
They should just not expect anything new or intriguing about the
situation or disease behind Seau’s disease or death.
I wish to thank Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for
an honest review.
Book Format Read:
E-book (EPUB)
Buying links:
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