It's that time of year where the diehard football fans are struggling to get whatever NFL news they can. The Super Bowl isn't that far removed so the withdrawal is starting to set in for them. But this is NOT the kind of news that any football fan wants to hear.
Former four-time Pro Bowl safety and two-time Super Bowl champion Dave Duerson passed away this past Thursday from an apparent suicide. He was only 50-years-old.
It's rather ironic that that sorrowful information should come around now. It was just last year that marked the 30th anniversary of that 1985 Super Bowl win for the Monsters of the Midway. Everyone from my generation remembers that Chicago Bears squad as being the best Super Bowl team EVER. The anniversary gave them them a chance to be reintroduced to a younger generation who weren't familiar with them.
Everyone knows that the best part about those Bears was their defense. It was hands down the best defense to ever grace the NFL. Sorry 1972 Dolphins, but it's true. The face of that defense was probably Mike Singletary at linebacker with those penetrating beady eyes of his. However, you couldn't front on Duerson in with his amazing safety skills in the secondary.
I don't pretend to understand what these athletes are going thru once they are out of the limelight for good. I can only imagine that it would have to be a huge struggle for some of them. They go from being pillars of adulation one moment to being afterthoughts the next. It's not always an easy transition even though they may have looked tough as nails while they were on the gridiron.
True, Duerson had been removed from his playing games for a good 20 years. One would think he had clearly gotten over any type of depression that would come with no longer playing. But think about it...once those anniversaries of their Super Bowl wins started coming up, he was probably reminded of the glory days all over again. Then add to that the fact that his business had just filed bankruptcy. Maybe the withdrawal depression started for him and it was too much for him to bear (no pun intended). No matter what the case was, the game truly lost a legend.
Rest in peace, #22.
