49ers offensive lineman Herrion dies at 23

[Rink]

Updated: Aug. 21, 2005, 5:28 AM ET
49ers offensive lineman Herrion dies at 23

DENVER -- San Francisco offensive lineman Thomas Herrion collapsed in the locker room and died Sunday morning, shortly after the 49ers played the Denver Broncos in a preseason game. He was 23.

Herrion, a 6-foot-3, 310-pound guard, was on the field for San Francisco's 14-play, 91-yard drive that ended with a touchdown with 2 seconds left.

Players had finished listening to coach Mike Nolan address them in a postgame meeting when Herrion collapsed. Medics administered CPR on him and took him to an ambulance that rushed him to a nearby hospital.

About three hours later, 49ers spokesman Aaron Salkin confirmed that Herrion had been pronounced dead. The cause of death was not immediately known.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that television footage showed Herrion walking off the field after the 49ers' touchdown drive, with nothing apparently wrong. According to the paper, Herrion's face gave no sign of distress in the footage.


"This is a colossal tragedy for the 49ers and the entire NFL community," Salkin said. "We still do not know all the details. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Herrion family."

The death comes a little more than four years after offensive lineman Korey Stringer of the Minnesota Vikings died of heatstroke during a training camp practice on a day during which the heat index soared to 110.

More on this Story (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2139454)

[tacitus]

Very sad ending.

[Rink]

And his life was just getting started, Only 23, for heavens sakes thats Young!!! So sad :(

[Beowulf]

It is a very sad ending but not as uncommon as we'd like to think. A couple of years ago there was a linebacker on the Minnesota Vikings who died of heat exhaustion in training camp.

[DeclinetoState]

It is a very sad ending but not as uncommon as we'd like to think. A couple of years ago there was a linebacker on the Minnesota Vikings who died of heat exhaustion in training camp.

Mentioned in Rink's article:
The death comes a little more than four years after offensive lineman Korey Stringer of the Minnesota Vikings died of heatstroke during a training camp practice on a day during which the heat index soared to 110.

[BEST45CAL]

"It really squashes all the speculation regarding his death," said Frederick Lyles, Herrion's agent. "They appear to be very thorough in their analysis. Hopefully, now people really get off the idea that these guys are overweight, or that drugs or steroids were involved in any way."

Herrion had ischemic heart disease, with significant blockage in his right coronary artery that caused the death of heart muscle, according to Amy Martin, a forensic pathologist and deputy coroner in Denver. Herrion's heart was slightly enlarged, a condition that could be related to anything from heart disease and high blood pressure to heredity.

Martin also said the autopsy revealed scar tissue from a recent episode in which blood was restricted to his heart — but Herrion probably didn't even realize it.

"From the time that he died, something happened a week or so earlier," said Martin, who found microscopic evidence of organizing heart necrosis.


Herrion Died of Heart Disease (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/09/06/sports/s170846D73.DTL)