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Junior Seau

Playing For The Home Team



The San Diego Chargers picked up Junior Seau in the 1990 draft and he immediately made an impact on the team. He was moved to inside linebacker, and even though this was a position he wasn't familiar with, his enthusiasm for the game wasn't diminished and he did his best to accommodate.



At USC Seau had been an outside pass-rusher. Still, he managed in that rookie season to finish second on the team in tackles, making the change in positions almost seamlessly and learning quickly how to cover running backs on pass plays.

In his second season Seau earned a trip to the Pro Bowl, beginning a long string of Pro Bowl appearances. Then in the 1992 season, with new coach Bobby Ross at the helm, Seau was the catalyst for the Chargers, who finished with an 11-5 record and the division title. In what was the biggest turnaround in NFL history, the team went from losing their first four games to finishing with an 11-1 record the rest of the season.

Seau is the leader on the team, no doubt about it. In a 1994 AFC Championship game, Seau had sixteen tackles against the Pittsburgh Steelers and helped the defense hold a late surge by the Steelers in a game that the Steelers had said they would have no problem winning. Seau and the Chargers' defense held the Steelers to only sixty-six yards rushing. The Chargers would lose the Super Bowl to the San Francisco 49ers, but Seau would have eleven tackles and one sack in the game.

Chronology

1969 Born Tiaina Seau, Jr., in Oceanside, California, on January 19 to Tiaina Sr. and Luisa Seau.
1976 Learns English for the first time
1985 Voted Outstanding High School Athlete by Parade magazine
1986 Enters University of Southern California
1988 Receives big break in college when gets starting position two weeks before season starts
1990 Drafted fifth overall in the first round by the San Diego Chargers
1990 Voted second alternate to the Pro Bowl in first NFL season and named to Football news All-Rookie Team
1991 Starts the Junior Seau Foundation
1993 Daughter Sydney Beau born on August 7
1995 Son Jake Ryan born on October 18
1996 Opens "Seau's: The Restaurant" in San Diego
1997 Seau's restaurant voted "Best Sports Bar" of the year by the San Diego Restaurant Association
2000 Named to Chargers 40th Anniversary All-Time Team

Additional topics

Famous Sports StarsFootballJunior Seau Biography - Growing Up, Playing For The Home Team, Chronology, Continues To Excel, Career Statistics - CONTACT INFORMATION