The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is a private, nonprofit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the U.S. military, with programs in 160 centers worldwide. Since 1941, it has worked in partnership with the Department of Defense (DOD), and has provided support and entertainment to U.S. armed forces, relying heavily on private contributions and on funds, goods, and services from DOD. Although congressionally chartered, it is not a government agency.

During World War II, the USO became the G.I.'s "home away from home" and began a tradition of entertaining the troops that continues today. Involvement in the USO was one of the many ways in which the nation had come together to support the war effort, with nearly 1.5 million Americans having volunteered their services in some way. After it was disbanded in 1947, it was revived in 1950 for the Korean War, after which it also provided peacetime services. During the Vietnam War, USOs were sometimes located in combat zones.

The organization became particularly famous for its live performances called Camp Shows, through which the entertainment industry helped boost the morale of its servicemen and women. Hollywood in general was eager to show its patriotism, and many famous celebrities joined the ranks of USO entertainers. They entertained in military bases at home and overseas, often placing their own lives in danger by traveling or performing under hazardous conditions.

Today the USO has over 160 locations around the world in 14 countries (including the U.S.) and 27 states. In 2009, USO centers served 7.7 million visitors. In 2008, Sloan Gibson became the 22nd President and CEO. Brigadier General (Retired) John I. Pray, Jr., joined the USO in 2009 as Senior Vice President of Entertainment and Programs. In 2010, Rear Admiral Frank Thorp IV (USN, ret.) joined the organization as the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications.^[2]

History[link]

Mission and goals[link]

Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James Amos introduces Sgt. Eric B. Walker as the USO Marine of the Year at the 2010 USO Gala

The USO was founded in 1941 in response to a request from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to provide morale and recreation services to U.S. uniformed military personnel. Roosevelt was elected as its honorary chairman. This request brought together six civilian organizations: the Salvation Army, Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), National Catholic Community Service, National Travelers Aid Association and the National Jewish Welfare Board. They were brought together under one umbrella to support U.S. troops. Roosevelt said he wanted "these private organizations to handle the on-leave recreation of the men in the armed forces." According to historian Emily Yellin, "The government was to build the buildings and the USO was to raise private funds to carry out its main mission: boosting the morale of the military."^[3]

The first national campaign chairman was Thomas Dewey, who raised $16 million in the first year. The second chairman was Prescott Bush, a future senator and father to one future president, and the grandfather to another.^[3] The USO was incorporated in New York February 4,^[1] with the first facility erected in DeRidder, Louisiana,1941.^[4] More USO centers and clubs opened around the world as a “Home Away from Home” for GIs. The USO club was a place to go for dances and social events, for movies and music, for a quiet place to talk or write a letter home, or for a free cup of coffee and an egg.

The USO also brought Hollywood celebrities and volunteer entertainers to perform for the troops. According to movie historian Steven Cohan, "most of all ... in taking home on the road, it equated the nation with showbiz. USO camp shows were designed in their export to remind soldiers of home." They did this, he noted, by "nurturing in troops a sense of patriotic identification with America through popular entertainment."^[5] An article in Look magazine at the time, stated, "For the little time the show lasts, the men are taken straight to the familiar Main Street that is the goal of every fighting American far away from home." Maxene Andrews wrote, "The entertainment brought home to the boys. Their home." Actor George Raft stated at the beginning of the war, "Now it's going to be up to us to send to the men here and abroad real, living entertainment, the songs, the dances, and the laughs they had back home."^[5]

USO promotional literature stated its goals:

"The story of USO camp shows belongs to the American people, for it was their contribution that made it possible. It is an important part in the life of your sons, your brothers, your husbands, and your sweethearts."^[5]

World War II[link]

Bob Hope USO show, 1944

After being formed in 1941 in response to World War II, "centers were established quickly... in churches, barns, railroad cars, museums, castles, beach clubs, and log cabins."^[6] Most centers offered recreational activities, such as holding dances and showing movies. And there were the well-known free coffee and doughnuts. Some USO bases provided a haven for spending a quiet moment alone or writing a letter home, while others offered spiritual guidance and made childcare available for military wives.

But the organization became mostly known for its live performances called Camp Shows, through which the entertainment industry helped boost the morale of its servicemen and women. At its high point in 1944, the USO had more than 3,000 clubs, and curtains were rising on USO shows 700 times a day. From 1941 to 1947, the USO presented more than 400,000 performances, featuring entertainers such as Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Hattie McDaniel, Eubie Blake, Ann Sheridan, Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers, Jack Benny, Larry Adler, Ossy Renardy, Zero Mostel, James Cagney, James Stewart, Gary Cooper, Doraine and Ellis, Lena Horne, Danny Kaye, The Rockettes, Al Jolson, Fred Astaire, Curly Joe DeRita, The Andrews Sisters, Joe E. Brown, Joe E. Lewis, Ray Bolger, Lucille Ball, Glenn Miller, Martha Raye, Mickey Rooney, Betty Hutton, Dinah Shore, and most famously, Bob Hope.

The USO's fundraising efforts were not without controversy. An MGM film, Mr. Gardenia Jones, created to assist the USO in its fundraising campaign, was nearly withdrawn from theaters due to objections by the War Department. The objections were centered on scenes showing soldiers jumping with joy at the opportunity to shower in canteens and rest in overstuffed and comfortable USO chairs. The Army, noted the New York Times, "feels this is not good for morale as it implies that there are no showers or other comforts for soldiers in military camps." The film starred Ronald Reagan, who was then a captain in the Army.^[7]

Fundraising was also aided by private entertainment groups. Songwriter Irving Berlin took the entire 100-person, all-soldier cast of his Broadway production “This Is the Army,” on tour in Europe in 1942, raising nearly $10 million for the Army Emergency Relief Fund. The following year the show was made into a film by the same title, again starring Ronald Reagan.^[8] One of the highlights of the film was its introduction of Berlin's song, "God Bless America," considered one of the nation's most patriotic songs.^[9]

War correspondent Quentin Reynolds, in an article for Billboard magazine in 1943, wrote, "Entertainment, all phases of it -- radio, pictures and live -- should be treated as essential. You don't know what entertainment means to the guys who do the fighting until you've been up there with the men yourself. . . . You can quote me as saying that we should use entertainment as an essential industry so long as it's for the boys in service. Anybody who has been there would insist on it. . . . Hell, you should have seen how happy the G.I.'s were when they heard the ballplayers were coming over. And John Steinbeck, just back from a chore as war correspondent, . . . also applauded show business as part of the war effort and its importance as a morale builder."^[10]

Looking back after the war

Irving Berlin singing aboard USS Arkansas, 1944

According to historian Paul Holsinger, between 1941 and 1945, the USO did 293,738 performances in 208,178 separate visits. Estimates were that more than 161 million servicemen and women, in the U.S. and abroad, were entertained. The USO also did shows in military hospitals, eventually entertaining more than 3 million wounded soldiers and sailors in 192 different hospitals. There were 702 different USO troupes that toured the world, some spending up to six months per tour.^[11] In 1943, a United States Liberty ship named the SS U.S.O. was launched. She was scrapped in 1967.

Twenty-eight performers died in the course of their tours, from plane crashes, illness, or diseases contracted while on tour. In one such instance in 1943, a plane carrying a U.S.O. troupe crashed outside Lisbon, killing singer and actress Tamara Drasin, and severely injuring Broadway singer Jane Froman. Froman returned to Europe on crutches in 1945 to again entertain the troops. She later married the co-pilot who saved her life in that crash, and her true story was made into the 1952 film With a Song in My Heart, with Froman providing the actual singing voice.^[8] Others, such as Al Jolson, the first entertainer to go overseas in World War II, contracted malaria, resulting in the loss of his lung, cutting short his tour.

In 1942, about seven months after the war began; CBS went on the air with a weekly radio variety show called Stagedoor Canteen. The show remained on the air for the duration of the war and became one of the nation's most popular.^[11] In 1943, United Artists released a reality-style movie about the USO called Stage Door Canteen, and the following year Warner Brothers produced a similar movie, called Hollywood Canteen. In 1991, 20th Century Fox produced the film, For the Boys, which told the story of two USO performers, and starred Bette Midler and James Caan. It covered a 50-year timespan, from the USO's inception in 1941 through Operation Desert Storm, in 1991. Another movie was planned in 1950 but never made. Just 10 days after Al Jolson returned from entertaining troops in Korea, he agreed with RKO producers to star in a new movie, Stars and Stripes for Ever, about a U.S.O. troupe in the South Pacific during World War II. Unfortunately, he died a week later as a result of physical exhaustion from his tour.

By the war's end, Steven Cohan concludes that "the USO amounted to the biggest enterprise American show business has ever tackled. The audience was millions of American fighting men, the theatre's location: the world, the producer: USO camp shows"^[5]

Women in the USO[link]

According to Emily Yellin, many of the key foot soldiers in the USO's mission were women who were "charged with providing friendly diversion for U.S. troops who were mostly men in their teens and twenties."^[3] USO centers throughout the world recruited female volunteers to serve doughnuts, dance, and just talk with the troops. USO historian Julia Carson writes that this "nostalgic hour," designed to cheer and comfort soldiers, involved "listening to music - American style" and "looking at pretty girls, like no other pretty girls in the world - American girls."^[12]

African American women scrambled to rally the community around the soldiers and create programs for them. By 1946, hostesses had served more than two thousand soldiers a day while also providing facilities for the wounded and convalescent who were on leave. They went to black businesses and fraternal organizations in order to find sponsorship for their USO group, and later expanded to fulfill the needs of soldiers during the Korean War. Moreover, they worked to merge black and white USOs into one desegregated unit. As black historian Megan Shockley noted, "Their work for the desegregation of USOs had begun during World War II, and it finally paid off."^[13]

Women were also key entertainers who performed at shows. Stars such as Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth had traveled over a million miles. Yellin notes that on one tour, Hayworth visited six camps, gave thousands of autographs, and "came back from Texas with a full-fledged nervous breakdown from over-enthusiasm!"^[3] Opera singer Lily Pons, after she had performed a "serious" opera song to troops in Burma, "an applause erupted that stunned even the most seasoned performers." She later wrote in a letter, "Every woman back home wears a halo now, and those who represent her had better keep theirs on, too."^[3]

Author Joeie Dee pointed out that "for women entertainers, traveling with the USO made it possible to be patriots and adventurers as well as professionals." She adds, however, that the G.I.s in the USO audiences "tended to see these women in a different light - as reminders of and even substitutes for their girls back home, as a reward for fighting the war, as embodiments of what they were fighting for."^[14] Edward Skvarna remembers 1943, when he met Donna Reed at a U.S.O. canteen and asked her to dance. "I had never danced with a celebrity before, so I felt delighted, privileged even, to meet her. . . . But I really felt she was like a girl from back home." Jay Fultz, author of her biography, states that soldiers "often wrote to her as if to a sister or the girl next door, confiding moments of homesickness, loneliness, privation and anxiety."^[15]

Women entertainers[link]

One female entertainer wrote about conditions while performing:

"We've played to audiences, many of them ankle deep in mud, huddled under the ponchos in the pouring rain (it breaks your heart the first two or three times to see men so hungry for entertainment.) We've played on uncovered stages, when we, as well as the audience, got rain-soaked. We've played with huge tropical bugs flying in our hair and faces; we've played to audiences of thousands of men, audiences spreading from our very feet to far up a hillside and many sitting in the trees. . . . We've played to audiences in small units of 500 or so, and much oftener to audiences of 8 to 10,000. Every night we play a different place."^[3]

US Coast Guard, 1st show in Vietnam, 1970

Singer and dancer Ann Miller described performing for badly wounded soldiers. She did forty-eight shows for "broken soldiers," who were mostly lying on stretchers in the lobbies of hotels, watching as she entertained them. Yellin writes, "During her last show she collapsed and had to be taken home on an Army airplane."^[3] Afterwards, Miller described the experience:

"We went from ward to ward to ward, singing and dancing and trying to boost the morale of these men. It was just hell. . . . I just fell apart and I think the shock of seeing those men with their arms and legs blown off - it was just frightening. But when you do it, you do it. You try to help them, try to sing and dance. You try to keep their spirits up. It's heartbreaking."^[3]

Korean War[link]

In the 1940s the USO was disbanded due partly to lack of funds. However, in 1950, when the United States entered the Korean War, Secretary of Defense George Marshall and Secretary of the Navy Francis P. Matthews requested that the USO be reactivated "to provide support for the men and women of the armed forces with help of the American people" According to war historian Paul Edwards, Between 1952 and 1953, not a day went by without the USO providing services somewhere in Korea. At home or overseas, in 1952 it was serving 3.5 million in the armed forces using much the same methods of operation as it did in World War II.

Many stars, both well-known and new, came to perform, including Bob Hope, Errol Flynn, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, Piper Laurie, Jane Russell, Paul Douglas, Terry Moore, Marilyn Monroe, Danny Kaye, Rory Calhoun, Mickey Rooney, Jayne Mansfield, Al Jolson and many others. Jolson notably was the first to volunteer and traveled to Korea at his own expense^[16] (he was also the first to entertain troops during World War II.)^[17]. Hispanic-American soldiers were entertained by artists such as Pérez Prado's Show featuring Evita Muñoz as his invited mambo dancer.

Veterans have recalled many of the USOs events, sometimes in vivid detail:

"On that cold, overcast day, there were more than five thousand troops in the audience. They sat on the ground or up on the hillside. When everyone was settled, Danny Kaye opened the show by going to the microphone, looking at his large audience, and shouting, "Who's holding back the enemy?" The GIs roared with laughter. We were thrilled to have Kaye and his entertainers in our area. We especially liked the young women in the show. Danny was okay, with his stories and jokes, but after all, we knew what American men looked like."^[18]:51

Author Linda Granfield in describing the show, writes, "For two hours, the men could forget they were soldiers at war. After the show, they returned to the fighting in the hills. Some in that audience never made it back."^[18] By the end of the war, over 113,000 American USO volunteers were working at 294 centers at home and abroad."^[19] And 126 units had given 5,422 performances to servicemen in Korea and the wounded in Japan

Vietnam War[link]

The USO was in Vietnam before the first combat troops arrived, with the first USO club opened in Saigon in April 1963. The 23 centers in Vietnam and Thailand served as many as a million service members a month, and the USO presented more than 5,000 performances during the Vietnam War featuring stars such as John Wayne, Ann-Margret, Sammy Davis Jr., Phyllis Diller, Martha Raye, Joey Heatherton, Wayne Newton, Jayne Mansfield, Redd Foxx, Rosey Grier, Anita Bryant, Nancy Sinatra, Jimmy Boyd, Lola Falana, and Bob Hope. Even Philip Ahn, the first actor of Korean descent to become a Hollywood star, became the first Asian American USO performer to entertain troops in Vietnam.^[20]

In addition, the USO operated centers at major U.S. airports to provide a lounge and place to sleep for American servicemen between their flights. Vietnam historian James Westheider noted that the USO "tried to bring a little America to Vietnam." Volunteer American civilians, who did 18-month tours, staffed the clubs. According to Westheider, "The young women wore miniskirts - no slacks were allowed." Each club had a snack bar, gift shops, a barbershop, photo developing, overseas phone lines, and hot showers.^[21]

When providing entertainment, the USO did its best to attract known stars from back home to help relieve the stresses of war. Even Senator John Kerry recalled how important this kind of diversion would become. He remembered a "Bob Hope Follies" USO show, which included actress Ann Margret, Miss America, football star Rosey Grier, and others. According to Kerry biographer Douglas Brinkley, "When the Swift finally made it back to the My Tho River, the crew confronted the heartbreaking sight of a huge Navy landing craft ferrying the troops back. The USO show was over." Kerry later wrote, "The visions of Ann Margret and Miss America and all the other titillating personalities who would have made us feel so at home hung around us for a while until we saw three Chinook helicopters take off from the field and presumed that our dreams had gone with them."^[22]

But for GIs who saw the show, it was worth it: "We turned to watch Ann perform, and for about two minutes of American beauty, the war was forgotten. Everyone fully understood just what was really worth fighting for. . . . The show was fantastic, but the escape the Bob Hope tour provided us in expectation for days before, and after, helped us keep in touch with what we were there for -- God, Country, apple pie ... and Ann-Margret!"^[23]

The visits by the stars meant a lot to the men and women in Vietnam. "It was not just the entertainment; it meant that they were not forgotten that far away from home," writes Westheider.^[21] He adds that the tours made a "deep impression" on the stars as well. Singer and actress Connie Stevens remembered her 1969 tour with Bob Hope, when she decided to go despite the fact she had two children both under the age of two. Today, she claims that "veterans were still stopping her and thanking her for visiting Vietnam over 30 years later."^[21]

Gulf War[link]

Bob Hope and Ann Jillian perform at the USO Christmas Tour during Operation Desert Shield

To support troops participating in Operation Desert Shield, USO centers opened in Saudi Arabia. Entertainers performing for the troops included Jay Leno, Steve Martin, Delta Burke, Ann Jillian, Gerald McRaney, Marie Osmond, the Pointer Sisters, and Bob Hope on his final USO tour.^[24]

Afghanistan and Iraq[link]

To support troops participating in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, USO centers opened in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar. USO centers number more than 130 around the world. Recently^[when?], the USO opened the Rocky Mountain USO Center at Denver International Airport, a third center in Kuwait and its first center in Iraq at Balad Air Base. The USO provides a variety of programs and services, including orientation programs, family events, travel assistance, free Internet and e-mail access, and recreation services. A new program called "USO in a Box," delivers program materials ranging from DVD players and videos to musical instruments to remote forward operating bases in Afghanistan and Iraq.

U.S. military personnel and their families visit USO centers more than five million times each year.

From June 8 to 11, 2009, T.V. personality Stephen Colbert traveled to Iraq to film his show The Colbert Report for four days in a USO sponsored event.

Other entertainers who have traveled to the Middle East to perform include Al Franken (who made six USO tours in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan^[25] before being elected a United States Senator from Minnesota), Craig Ferguson, Gary Sinise, Zac Brown, Carrie Underwood, Drowning Pool, Toby Keith, Montgomery Gentry, Kellie Pickler, Mayra Veronica, Carlos Mencia, O.A.R., Dave Attell, Trace Adkins, Kathleen Madigan, Louis C.K.,^[26] Dane Cook, Lewis Black, Third Day, Colin Quinn, Kathy Griffin and Neil McCoy.^[27]

The USO is also providing services for the annual "Tribute to the Troops" special of World Wrestling Entertainment. They have aired WWE RAW from Afghanistan and Iraq every Christmas in the United States in a pre-taped show from the combat zone.

Honoring Bob Hope[link]

In 1996, the U.S. Congress honored Bob Hope by declaring him the "first and only honorary veteran of the U.S. armed forces."^[28] According to Hope biographer William Faith, his reputation has become ingrained in the "American consciousness" because he had flown millions of miles to entertain G.I.s during both wartime and peace. His contribution to the USO began in 1941 and ended with Operation Desert Shield in 1991, spending 48 Christmases overseas with American service personnel.^[24] He was always treated as "an asset to the U.S. Government with his willingness to entertain whenever they needed him."^[28] After WWII was declared over, the USO had sent out an "impassioned bulletin" asking entertainers not to abandon the GIs now that the war was over. Hope was among the first to say yes. The Military Order of the Purple Heart notes that "his contributions to the USO are well known: they are legend."^[29]

As a result of his non-stop entertainment to both the civilian population and the military, he received numerous other honors over the years: a C-17 Air Force plane was named The Spirit of Bob Hope; a naval vessel was named the USNS Bob Hope; and streets, schools, hospitals, and a golf tournament were also named in his honor. A Senate resolution declared him "a part of American folklore." The Guinness Book of Records called him the most honored entertainer ever. And during his 1993 televised birthday celebration, when he turned 90, General Colin Powell saluted Hope "for his tireless USO trouping", which was followed by onstage tributes from all branches of the armed forces. General William Westmoreland spoke about his loyalty to the GI throughout the gritty Vietnam years. And bandleader Les Brown, who was with him during many of his tours, mentioned that his band "had seen more of Hope's ass in the last forty years than any of Hope's immediate family."^[28]

War correspondent Quentin Reynolds wrote in 1943, "He and his troupe would do 300 miles in a jeep, and give four shows... One of the generals said Hope was a first rate military target since he was worth a division; that that's about 15,000 men. Presumably the Nazis appreciated Hope's value, since they thrice bombed towns while the comic was there."^[10]

During the Vietnam War years he gave a number of high-rating television specials and sensed that the media had given him a broad endorsement for continuing on his GI mercy missions. Soon after his Christmas show in Saigon in 1967, he learned that the Vietcong had planned a terrorist attack at his hotel against him and his entire troupe, missing him by ten minutes. He was later "mystified," writes Faith, "and ... increasingly intolerant of the pockets of dissent. Draft-card burnings on college campuses angered him..." "Can you imagine," Hope wrote in a magazine article, "... that people in America are burning their draft cards to show their opposition and that some of them are actually rooting for your defeat?"^[28] In the spring of 1973, Hope began writing his fifth book, The Last Christmas Show, which was dedicated to "the men and women of the armed forces and to those who also served by worrying and waiting." He signed over his royalties to the USO.

His final Christmas show was during Operation Desert Shield in 1990. The show was not easy, notes Faith. "There were so many restrictions. Hope's jokes were monitored by the State Department to avoid offending the Saudis... and the media was restricted from covering the shows... Because in Saudi Arabia national custom prescribes that women must be veiled in public, Ann Jillian, Marie Osmond, and the Pointer Sisters were left off Hope's Christmas Eve show."^[28]

In 2009, Stephen Colbert performing his last episode of weeklong taping in Iraq for his The Colbert Report show, carried a golf club on stage and dedicated it to Bob Hope's service for the USO.

Financials[link]

The USO has a paid staff of approximately 240. Additionally, more than 30,000 USO volunteers provide an estimated 371,417 hours of service annually. As reported by the USO, the unpaid volunteer to paid employee ratio overseas is 20 to 1. Within the United States, the number is "significantly higher".

The following information is based on USO's audited financial statements^[30] for the year ended December 31, 2006:

See also[link]

• United Service Organization of North Carolina

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: United Service Organizations

• Official website
• Other web site: USO Clubs in World War II
• USO of Illinois Official Website
• Movie clips: Re-enacted WWII tour, from Jolson Sings Again (1949)
• USO World Gala, 2008: President Bush speech Text and video, Oct. 1, 2008
• The short film Big Picture: United Service Organization (USO): Wherever They Go is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-25A (1966) is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• The short film USO - 30 Years of Service (1971) is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]

Junior Seau

Junior Seau in 2008 with the New England Patriots
No. 55
Linebacker
Personal information
Date of birth: (1969-01-19)January 19, 1969
Place of birth: San Diego, California
Date of death: May 2, 2012(2012-05-02) (aged 43)
Place of death: Oceanside, California
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Weight: 248 lb (112 kg)
Career information
High school: Oceanside (CA)
College: Southern California
NFL Draft: 1990 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5
Debuted in 1990 for the San Diego Chargers
Last played in 2009 for the New England Patriots
Career history
San Diego Chargers (1990–2002) Miami Dolphins (2003–2005) New England Patriots (2006–2009)
Career highlights and awards
12× Pro Bowl (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002) 8× First-team All-Pro (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996,1998, 2000) 2× Second-team All-Pro (1997, 1999) 2× AFC Champion (1994, 2007) NFL Alumni Linebacker of the Year (2003) AFC Player of the Year (1994) Walter Payton Man of the Year (1994) UPI AFC Defensive Player of the Year (1992) NEA NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1992) NFL 1990s All-Decade Team San Diego Chargers #55 retired San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame San Diego Chargers 50th Anniversary Team
Career NFL statistics as of 2009
Tackles 1,849 Sacks 56.5 Interceptions 18 Forced fumbles 3 Pass deflections 21 Stats at NFL.com

Tiaina Baul "Junior" Seau Jr. ( /ˈseɪ.aʊ/; January 19, 1969 – May 2, 2012) was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) who became a San Diego sports icon. Known for his passionate playing style,^[1][2] he was a 10-time All-Pro, 12-time Pro Bowl selection, and named to the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team.

Of Samoan descent, Seau played college football at the University of Southern California. He was taken by the San Diego Chargers as the fifth overall pick of the 1990 NFL Draft. Seau starred for 13 seasons for the Chargers before being traded to the Miami Dolphins, where he spent three years before four final ones with the New England Patriots.

Seau retired from pro football in 2010. A standout on San Diego's only Super Bowl team, he was later inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame and the team retired his number 55. Seau committed suicide with a gun shot wound to the chest in 2012 at the age of 43.

Early years[link]

Tiaina Baul Seau Jr. was born January 19, 1969, in San Diego, California,^[3] the fifth child of Tiaina Seau, Sr., and Luisa Mauga Seau of Aunu'u, American Samoa. Tiaina Sr.'s grandfather was a village chief in Pago Pago. Tiaina Sr. worked at a rubber factory and was a school custodian, and Luisa worked at the commissary of Camp Pendleton in Southern California and a laundromat.^[4] After Seau was born, the family moved back to American Samoa for several years before returning to San Diego; Seau spoke English only from age seven.^[5] At home, Seau and his three brothers had to sleep in the family's one-car garage.^[4]

Seau attended Oceanside High School, where he lettered in football, basketball, and track and field. As a football player, Seau was a starter at linebacker and tight end, and as a senior, he was named the Avocado League offensive MVP and led the 18-member Oceanside Pirates team to the San Diego 2A championship. Parade selected Seau to its high school All-American team.^[4] In basketball, as a senior, he was named the California Interscholastic Federation San Diego Section Player of the Year.^[5] He helped his team win the 1987 Lt. James Mitchell Tournament and make third place in the Mt. Carmel Invitational.^[6] In track and field, he was the Avocado League champion in the shot put.^[5]

College career[link]

After graduating from high school, Seau attended the University of Southern California (USC). He had to sit out his freshman season because he got only a 690 on his college entrance exam, the SAT, 10 points short of USC's required minimum score for freshman eligibility.

Seau told Sports Illustrated: "I was labeled a dumb jock. I went from being a four-sport star to an ordinary student at USC. I found out who my true friends were. Nobody stuck up for me—not our relatives, best friends or neighbors. There's a lot of jealousy among Samoans, not wanting others to get ahead in life, and my parents got an earful at church: 'We told you he was never going to make it.'" This prompted him to apologize to his coaches, teachers, and principal at Oceanside High.^[4]

He lettered in his final two seasons, 1988 and 1989, posting 19 sacks in 1989 en route to a unanimous first-team All-American selection.^[5]

Professional career[link]

San Diego Chargers[link]

After three years as a Trojan, Seau entered the NFL draft after his junior season and was chosen in the first round of the 1990 NFL Draft by Bobby Beathard's San Diego Chargers as the fifth overall draft selection. Seau quickly became one of the most popular players on the Chargers,^[3] receiving the nickname "Tasmanian Devil", after the wild antics of the cartoon character.^[7] He became the face of the Chargers franchise and a San Diego sports icon.^[1][2]

Seau started 15 of the 16 games he played in during his rookie season, and was named an alternate to the 1991 Pro Bowl after recording 85 tackles. In 1991, he picked up 129 tackles and seven sacks and was named to the 1992 Pro Bowl, the first of 12 consecutive Pro Bowls for Seau. He started no fewer than 13 games for the Chargers over each of the ensuing 11 seasons, registering a career high with 155 tackles in 1994. That year, Seau assisted his team to a championship appearance in Super Bowl XXIX. In one of greatest games in his career, he recorded 16 tackles in the 1994 AFC Championship Game while playing with a pinched nerve in his neck in a 17–13 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.^[8] In 2002, his final year with the Chargers, he logged a then-career low 84 tackles and missed his final Pro Bowl with an ankle injury.

Miami Dolphins[link]

On April 16, 2003, Seau was traded to the Miami Dolphins for a conditional draft choice. He started 15 games that season for the 10–6 Dolphins and was one of their standout defensive players.^[9] However, in 2004, a torn pectoral muscle limited Seau to eight games, 68 tackles, and one sack. He started five of the first seven games he played in with the Dolphins in 2005, but was placed on injured reserve on November 24 with an achilles tendon injury. On March 6, 2006, Seau was released by the Dolphins.

First retirement[link]

Seau announced his retirement at an emotional press conference on August 14, 2006, after signing a one-day contract with the San Diego Chargers. He called it his "graduation", because he was not going to stop working. He contended that he was merely moving on to the next phase of his life.^[10]

New England Patriots[link]

Seau with the Patriots.

Seau returned to football just four days later, signing with the New England Patriots.^[11] He started 10 of the first 11 games for the Patriots, recording 69 tackles before breaking his right arm while making a tackle in a game against the Chicago Bears. He was placed on injured reserve on November 27.

On May 21, 2007, Seau re-signed with the New England Patriots for the 2007 season. In September 2007 Seau was named one of the Patriots' seven captains.^[12] He was a prominent contributor to the Patriots undefeated regular season that year.^[9] He started four of the 16 games he played in for the Patriots in 2007, and then started the Patriots' two playoff games before Super Bowl XLII against the New York Giants. New England's undefeated streak ended with a Super Bowl loss to the Giants.

After the Patriots had a number of injuries late in the 2008 season, they re-signed Seau. He started two of four games he played.^[13] On December 22, 2008, a fan was arrested for trespassing and assault and battery for tackling Seau as he stood on the New England sideline during a home game against the Arizona Cardinals. Seau stated that he did not feel threatened by the fan; he thought that the fan was happy and excited and got carried away.^[14]

On October 7, 2009, NFL Network reported that the New England Patriots had an "agreement in principle" with Seau for a fourth one-year deal; Seau took physicals and worked out with the team.^[15] He officially signed on October 13.^[16] He was active for 7 games for the Patriots in 2009, recording 14 tackles as a reserve linebacker.

Second retirement[link]

Seau announced his intention to retire for a second time on the television program Inside the NFL on January 13, 2010.^[17]

Beyond football[link]

His restaurant in Mission Valley, California—Seau’s The Restaurant, which opened in 1996—was his most successful business venture. Seau also had a clothing line, Say Ow Gear.^[18][19] The restaurant was closed May 16, 2012, just two weeks after his death; the trustees of his estate explained that "Without Seau's charismatic leadership, it was felt that the future profitability of the restaurant could be in question."^[20]

Sports Jobs with Junior Seau premiered on December 2, 2009, on Versus. The show followed Seau as he did the jobs that make sports work. Ten episodes aired through January 27, 2010.

Seau was actively involved with community work through Samoan "sister city" projects within San Diego county.

Junior Seau Foundation[link]

In 1992, Seau created the Junior Seau Foundation with the mission to educate and empower young people through the support of child abuse prevention, drug and alcohol awareness, recreational opportunities, anti-juvenile delinquency efforts and complimentary educational programs.

The 20th Anniversary Junior Seau Celebrity Golf Classic was held March 10–12, 2012, at the world-famous La Costa Resort and Spa.

The Foundation gives out an annual award to the individual who exemplifies the mission statement of the Junior Seau Foundation.

• 2000 — Legend of the Year — Sid Brooks
• 2001 — Legend of the Year — Lance Alworth
• 2002 — Legend of the Year — Sid Gillman
• 2003 — Legend of the Year — Don Coryell
• 2004 — Legend of the Year — Marcus Allen
• 2005 — Legend of the Year — Deacon Jones
• 2006 — Legend of the Year — Bobby Ross
• 2007 — Legend of the Year — Warren Moon
• 2008 — Legend of the Year — Marshall Faulk
• 2009 — Legend of the Year — Charlie Joiner
• 2010 — Legend of the Year — John Lynch
• 2011 — Legend of the Year — Bill Walton

Personal[link]

Seau married Gina Deboer in 1991. The couple had three children together, a daughter and two sons,^[5] before divorcing in 2002.^[4][21][22]

Seau sustained minor injuries in October 2010 when his SUV plunged down a 100-foot cliff hours after he had been arrested for domestic violence following an incident reported to the police by his girlfriend.^[8] Seau maintained he had fallen asleep at the wheel, and was never charged in the domestic incident.^[1]

Seau's nephew, Ian Seau, committed to play at Kansas State,^[23] and another nephew, Micah Seau, committed to play for San Diego State.^[24]

Death[link]

Media and fans at a memorial outside Seau's house the day after his death

On May 2, 2012, Seau's girlfriend found him dead with a gunshot wound to the chest at his home in Oceanside, California. The death was ruled a suicide by the San Diego County medical examiner's office.^[25][26][27] Seau had no prior reported history of concussions,^[25][28] but his ex-wife said he did sustain concussions during his career.^[29] "He always bounced back and kept on playing," Gina Seau said. "He's a warrior. That didn't stop him."^[30] Seau had insomnia for at least the last seven years of his life, and he was taking Ambien, a prescription drug commonly prescribed for sleep disorders.^[31]

His death recalled the 2011 suicide of former NFL player Dave Duerson, who left a note asking his brain be studied for brain trauma.^[32][33] Seau's family considered allowing researchers to study his brain for possible damage^[34][35][36] due to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition traced to concussion-related brain damage with depression as a symptom. Research candidates included the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy of Boston University and the Brain Injury Research Institute.^{[34][37][38][39]} The family did not disclose their final decision.^[31][37][40]

Legacy[link]

Seau was known for his passionate playing style, including a fist-pumping dance he performed after big plays.^[1][2] Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News said Seau "probably was the most dynamic player of his era".^[41] NFL head coach Norv Turner, who coached Seau as well as faced him as an opponent, said, "The No. 1 thing about Junior was that he was such an explosive player he’d defeat one-on-one blocks and he was a great tackler."^[41] Seau's quickness allowed him to freelance, which sometimes put him out of position. "People say he gambled a bit, but in reality, his insight led him to the ball ... Even when he was wrong, you had to account for him and that created problems for offensive coordinators. You’d better have somebody blocking him," said former NFL coach Tom Bass.^[41]

He was praised by teammates for his work ethic and leadership. He would play when hurt, and often refused to leave games.^[2] "He played the game the way it was meant to be played," said retired Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway.^[19] Bill Belichick, his coach at New England, praised Seau’s leadership and willingness to accept any role.^[13]

Seau was inducted into the San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame on November 27, 2011, as part of Alumni Day ceremonies at a sold-out game against the Denver Broncos at Qualcomm Stadium. Fellow Chargers Hall of Famer Dan Fouts introduced Seau before a crowd of nearly 71,000.^[42]

Chargers President Dean Spanos honored Seau after his death as "...An icon in our community. He transcended the game. He wasn’t just a football player, he was so much more."^[18] The Chargers retired his No. 55 during his public memorial.^[43]

On Wednesday, May 16, 2012, the city council of Oceanside, CA voted to name the city's beach community center and pier amphitheater after Seau^[44]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	National Football League portal

• List of suicides

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from NFL.com • Pro-Football-Reference
• Junior Seau Foundation
• New England Patriots bio