Like many people I was shocked to hear of the tragic passing of football great Junior Seau. Junior seemed to have a great life with a loving family, successful restaurants and certainly a hall of fame career as an NFL star. My concern is that many people will look at football as the reason he took his own life. From the outside, and with all of the press about concussions in football, it would be easy to say the game and the abuse his body took playing the game was the reason. However, unless we were a personal friend of Junior's we don't know how he lived his life. We don't know if he had problems on a personal level if his business interests were taking a personal toll, or if he had other problems not related to his public life or sports. Suicide is a tragic way to lose a loved one. I know, I lost a very close relative in my late teens and it changed the way I looked at life forever. Seeing the pain it caused the loved ones and the press conference with Junior's mother, brought back very painful memories of my aunts reaction to my cousins death over 30 years ago. Sadly people take their own lives everyday and hopefully the high profile nature of Junior's death will shed light on suicide and hopefully help at least one person from doing the same. Was football the reason Junior decided to take a gun to his chest, and end what appeared to be a charmed life? I don't know if he wanted his brain to be evaluated for the sake of science and concussion prevention like another recent suicide of an ex-NFL player Dave Duerson of the Chicago Bears. Dave's family is now filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the NFL for not doing more to protect their athletes. As a parent of a young athlete, are you concerned with the health risks of youth football? Should you be concerned about concussions in football? What about concussions in soccer, lacrosse or hockey. My concern is that the game of football, which is a great game will face scrutiny now as a game that people will consider unsafe for their children. Yes, football is a violent game, so is hockey and lacrosse. Soccer uses the head extensively and the concussion numbers are increasing in that sport. Football teaches such valuable life lessons as teamwork, discipline, determination and more importantly it helps young people realize that with hard work anything can be achieved. Football challenges young people unlike any other game. The gear is heavy, it's practiced in the heat of late summer, you are in hard, direct physical contact with your peers and anyone who has played the game has learned something valuable about themselves. But is football to blame for Junior's passing? I don't think so. Could it have played a role, certainly. Many things could have played a role far beyond what we know and for the sake of his family I hope we never know. If brain injuries were the reason for his actions and the injuries are traced to football, then technology and science should create a better helmet. Rules are constantly being changed to protect players, which is a good thing but taking the risk and contact out of the game will take away what the game is about. Nothing truly worthwhile in life is without risk. We can look at many ex-football greats who have gone on to successful careers after the game who have had multiple concussions, but didn't take their own lives. Think of Steve Young, Dick Butkus, Roger Staubach, Howie Long, and on and on. Thankfully, there are far more players who have succeeded in life after football than those who have taken their lives. Just like the rest of us non-professional athletes, depression and suicide are human factors. Junior Seau was a man just like the rest of us who have problems and issues in life and unfortunately felt he had no other options than to end his life. That is a very sad end to what appeared to be a very good life. Parents, please think of the good things which come from football and the value your child will get from the game. It is very unlikely your child will play the game at the highest level and if he does, then he will certainly be fulfilling a dream and that is a very good thing!