Junior Seau: Remembering His Playing Days as a USC Trojan

The word of football mourns the loss of a legend today, as Junior Seau is dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. Seau was only 43 years old, so the memories of his playing days are still fresh in many football fans' minds, making today's news all the worse.

But before his Hall of Fame-caliber NFL career, before everyone wanted a dark blue Seau Chargers jersey to wear to school, before being the fifth pick of the 1990 NFL Draft, Seau was a USC Trojan, and one of the best.

Seau's legacy is as an inside linebacker in the NFL, but Seau worked the outside edge for USC, and he did it amazingly well.

Seau only actually played two years at USC, sitting out his first after a poor SAT score. He quickly made up for lost time in 1988, working his way into a starting role, but his 1989 season was nothing short of legendary. In that, his final season as a Trojan, he would register 19 sacks and 27 tackles-for-loss en route to winning the Defensive Player of the Year award in the Pac-10.

But really, stats don't do the man justice. By the end of his collegiate career, Seau was unblockable. He was the closest thing the Pac-10 had to Lawrence Taylor at the time: a fast, merciless rush linebacker who had to be accounted for on every snap. He had no contemporaries; Seau was the player that other athletes were compared to.

Seau's #55 is one of the most iconic in all of college football, and its legacy lives on at USC today as part of "Club 55," the group of star linebackers that play at the Coliseum. USC is already getting some suggestions to permanently retire the number from the likes of former star wideout Keary Colbert, but that's not a decision that needs to be made in haste.

USC, the Pac-12 and the sport of college football have lost a titan today, and far too soon. Remembering his legacy as a Trojan is the least we can do to honor him.