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>> AMITA: Junior Seau's family wants researchers to look at his brain to see if he suffered
is damage from injuries sustained during if we want years in the NFL.
He committed suicide this week and we will talk about his legacy to the game and the
community. Federal agents abandoned him in a jail cell
without food or water for five days now UC San Diego engineering student Daniel Chung
is suing the federal government. My guests are Jay Paris and Jeff McDonald.
Jay, you knew Junior Seau, what was he like as a player, as a person, and what kind of
mark does he leave on San Diego? >> I think he was really the same as a player
and a person. You would describe this with passion.
He played the game with incredible passion and he really lived his life with that same
passion. The legacy he leaves is he was a haul of fame
player and one of the best to play the game overall and certainly one of the best chargers,
but his legacy too was a connection to the fans and the community.
The work he did in that community, more than $4 million in college scholarships, opening
his restaurant every Thanksgiving to feed the needy, "shock with a jock" where he would
give kids money to shop for Christmas gifts for their families.
His force was almost trumped off the field. I think that's where the real loss is here,
people felt like they knew I am, he went up the road at USC and he was a big star for
the chargers and it's a loss that's going to be felt for quite some time.
>> AMITA: People who saw him this week said he was in great spirits Monday on a celebrity
golf tournament. He canceled afternoon shoot saying that he
wasn't feeling well, Wednesday he takes his own life.
Were there any signs, indications, that he was depressed about something?
>> We can't uncover any and you look at the finances, there weren't people knocking on
the door looking for money. Un, junior was always the brightest personality
in every room he walked into. For him to cancel a photo shoot, I don't know
what was going on there, but he had appointments later that day.
His mom said, why wouldn't he say anything to her, and it seemed like it was almostハ
I've heard it described as a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
You wonder what his state of mind is and maybe that goes into playing 20 years in the NFL
as well. >> AMITA: He played 20 years in the NFL, unheard
of, and now his family wants his brain studied for possible signs of traumatic brain injury,
which is associated with depression, occasional suicide, dimension is that, did he ever talk
about this publically? Did he show signs of suffering from something
like this? >> Absolutely not and what made him Junior
Seau was his toughness, he would never raise a hand and say I need a breather, coach, no
way he should have been playing one time on one leg, he had more tackles than anybody
out there. I think, too, with the concussion andハ the
whole mentality and the culture of the national football league is how tough can you be, everybody
gets hurt, can you get through that pain, the Samoan culture doesn't raise their hand
and say "I'm hurtin' here" and did Junior Seau have a concussion during his career?
Absolutely. He played in a violent position, and he was
making contact every play. He suffered concussions, he never let on.
>> AMITA: Football is not just your father's game, it's faster, harder, this week 100 former
NFL players joined 1500 retired players in suing the NFL saying they're still experiencing
debilitating affects from injuries they suffered to the brain on the field.
How seriously is the NFL taking these concerns? >> As serious as a $9 billion company would.
They're scared to death because more and more of these players are coming back and saying
we didn't get the proper medical care, there wasn't an objective observer, it's hard to
rely on the team trainer and team doctor to say this guy can't play anymore, everybody
wants to win and winning means money. They're saying they didn't have that information.
You're right about the game, and a lot of it is the equipment, these light helmets,
they're using them as a weapon and in years past they didn't do that as much and it's
bigger, stronger in size, the force of the velocity, that's why people tune in, the NFL
is in a juggling act, but they are trying to put in rules as best they can.
>> AMITA: Jeff, there is a case of the UCSD engineering student, left in a jail cell for
five days without food or water. Let's take this case back a little bit.
He was first picked up during a drug raid at a private home, was he doing there?
>> He was there to party with his friends on a Friday night, Aprilハ20th.
He spent the night and certainly unknowingly the DEA had been observing the house and they
executed a search warrant, gathered up people, including Mr. Chong and took them to the DEA
headquarters in Kearney Mesa. They said we went through the process of interviewing
people, transferring folks from holding cells to interview rooms so they could be individually
questioned. They lost track of Mr.ハChong at some point
after the interview, they concluded his discussion and determined that he was not guilty of any
crime, they told him he would be released and just sit tight we're going to let you
go and Mr.ハChong said one agent said he would give him a ride home Saturday afternoon
sometime. Meantime seven others were transferred to
county custody, one was released and Mr.ハChong was the one they forgot about.
When he went into the cell on Saturday after the interview he expected to go home with
an hour or two hours, he hung tight and apparently he was handcuffed.
The door never opened again until Wednesday afternoon.
>> AMITA: So he's in the cell for five days. What did he endure and what did he do to keep
himself alive? >> He told a very specific detail at his press
conference on Tuesday. He expected to go home, he was hungry, no
water, no place to go to the bathroom, he was handcuffed, when it became apparent that
he wasn't going home anytime soon, he said mental fatigue set in, he started hallucinating
from lack of food and water, at some point he could hear voices and foot steps outside
the door and he couldn't understand why no one was responding to his screams and kick
and he described basically going crazy. >> AMITA: How was he discovered?
>> That remains a mystery, he assumes it was accidental, someone just walked in and he
said one of the agents said "here is the water you've been asking for," which I think is
a significant remembrance because it implies that the agents knew he was in there.
The DEA hasn't responded to the specific points that Mr.ハChong brought forward, he subsequently
filed a claim and it will be going to court to recover damages.
He was transported to a local hospital where he spent three days in intensive care.
>> AMITA: What kind of condition was he in? >> Severely dehydrated, mall nourished and
he had a perforated lung, his lung had glass in it from a failed suicide attempt.
>> AMITA: The DEA has apologized and how have they explained this?
As far as we know it hasn't happened before. >>> No, as far as we know nothing like this
has happened before, the only thing they acknowledged was it was accidental, that was their key
statement on Monday and we have been going with that.
We have followed up for responses to his side of the story and none forthcoming, perhaps
understandably in light of the $20 million claim his lawyer filed on Wednesday.
>> AMITA: His lawyer is seeking $20 million. What is his lawyer saying about this case?
>> They liken it to torture, citing a number of examples of his condition that meet that
statute. They recount in the five page claim the otherハ
the laws that dictate what the government can and can't do and the violations that the
government is alleged to have committed against Mr.ハChong and that will presumably be rejected
by the DEA counsel and go to court sometime later this year, next year, he asked for an
expedited rejection of the claim when he expects. >> AMITA: Jeff, Jay, thank you for speaking
to us today. >>> Thank you.