Top ten athletes whose careers were cut short tragically

BY KEENAN BIGG

Although this is my first post, I wanted to write about something that really meant something. On Wednesday, April 9^th, early in the morning, Major League Baseball and the Angels organization were faced with a grim tragedy. Nick Adenhart, 22, was killed by a drunk driver, just hours after pitching six scoreless inning in his fourth career major league game. No 22 year-old deserves such a fate, and I can only hope that people can take a lesson from this accident. It’s simple, people. Don’t drink and drive. Ever.

So in Nick’s honor, here are 10 athletes whose careers remain an enigma of endless potential

10. Nick Adenhart

6 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K

Any Angels fan had to be pumped about Adenhart’s first start of the year, because with a line like that, he’d certainly earned the right to be near the top of that rotation. But the number one prospect of the Angels organization will never take the mound, sadly, as his life was cut short by a drunk driver. The kid from California who had grown with Angels since he was 18 leaves a legacy that reminds us all how precious life is and the importance, or lack thereof, of the games we play.

9. Reggie Lewis

The 22^nd overall pick in the 1987 NBA draft from the small Northeastern University averaged over 20 points per game in his last two season with the Celtics, raising his career average to 17.6 per game, but an unexpected turn took place during an off-season practice when Lewis collapsed and died on the court. Lewis suffered from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) which causes enlarged growth in the interior walls of the heart. The 1992 all-star is one of two players to have his number retired by the Celtics without playing in a championship. He was only 27.

8. Pat Tillman

When Pat Tillman was 26, he felt such a sense of nationalism that despite the fact that his football talent would have ensured his financial security for life (He turned down a 3.6 million dollar deal after his last season), that he joined the U.S Army. The former Pac-10 defensive player of the year at Arizona State set the Cardinal record for tackles in a season with a whopping 224. He and his brother, who had turned down a pro baseball career himself, served their country as Army Rangers, an elite special forces unit, until Tillman was killed by friendly fire on April 22, 2004. His death is still under investigation today.

7. Steve Prefontaine

Pre was the great white hope on the track scene in the late 60s and early 70s. At the elite running program at the University of Oregon, Prefontaine didn’t finish first in three races in college, capturing seven different national championships in cross-country and track. He raced in only one Olympiad in 1972, losing his lead in the 5000 meters with 150 meters to go. Prefontaine broke records in every qualifying event leading up to the 1976 games, but was tragically killed in a car accident in Eugene in May of 1975. He was 24.

6. Brian Piccolo

Piccolo burst onto the scene in 1964 when he led the nation in rushing and scoring for Wake Forest University, however the school was largely ignored by the nation as it was known as a basketball school. Piccolo went undrafted and made the Bears’ practice squad. By 1967, he had played his way to a backup role on the team behind the great Gale Sayers. In 1969, he became the lead blocking fullback for Sayers, but midseason was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor, and died less than a year later. His legacy remains strong in Chicago, kept alive by the moving (if you haven’t cried during this movie, I’ll question your manhood) film Brian’s Song, in which Gale Sayers gives tearjerking speech immortalizing the impact Piccolo had on his life.

5. Thurman Munson

At the height of the 32 year-old catcher’s career, he was a 7-time all-star, batting close to .300 for his career, an MVP in 1976, and the owner of two World Series rings. However while taking a flying lesson in August of 1979, Munson failed to lower landing flaps, causing his plane to crash and burst into flames. While the two friends he was flying with escaped, Munson sadly could not. What Jorge Posada was to the Yankee teams of the 90s, Munson was to the Yankees of the 70s.

4. Korey Stringer

A standout at the Ohio State University, Stringer was a first round pick of the Vikings in 1995. He earned a trip to the Pro Bowl in 2000, which would end up being his final season. Stringer collapsed and died from heat stroke during a training camp workout in 2000. Stringer’s death instantly became a source of controversy due to his size and how hard he needed to work to maintain his job. Today, Stringer’s death has changed the way pro and college football teams conduct their summer camps, due to the risk associated with heat stroke.

3. Sean Taylor

The fifth overall pick in the 2004 draft had 10 picks and was a consensus All-American and Big East defensive player of the year. Sean Taylor forwent his senior season to knock some heads around in the NFL. Sadly, he would only get to do so for a couple years. Taylor was hurt during the 2007 season, and while at home, lost his life to intruders who murdered him. This was only after Taylor had made 299 tackles and 12 interceptions in his brief three-year career. After being named all-pro posthumously in 2007, and to the pro bowl at age 23 the year before, Taylor’s career was unquestionably heading for Hall of Fame status.

2. Darryl Kile

Kile was in the midst of his 11^th Major League season when a trainer noticed that he was missing warm-ups on a June afternoon at Wrigley Field. When he called the hotel, the staff had gone to Kile’s room, only to find him under the covers and dead from a heart attack. Kile had won 133 games in his career and appeared to be entering the best part of it having come off a 16-win season in which he posted a 3.09 ERA. The real tragedy with Kile was that if the patterns that were developing in his career were true, he might have had a shot at the hall of fame.

1. Len Bias

The joy and elation in the hearts of Celtics fans on the night of the 1986 NBA draft was immeasurable when they took Len Bias from Maryland with the second pick overall. Celebrations lasted long into the night. Unfortunately, Bias’s celebration lasted just a little too long. Bias died early in the morning a mere two days after he had been selected. The cause: Cocaine induced heart attack. A man who could’ve challenged the great Michael Jordan for dominance in the NBA, (we can surmise this because the two often battled hard in ACC matchups) Bias became the ultimate question of, “What If?”