Junior Seau: How the Linebacker's Death Impacts the Future of the NFL

With Junior Seau's untimely death, the NFL lost a man who will go down as one of the finest linebackers in the game's history and a certain Hall of Fame inductee when the 2015 busts are marked for Canton.

But the story gets much bigger than this.

After details started to leak out about Seau's possible suicide, I thought about the ripple effect that this event will have on the future of the game. My mind began to swim with concerns immediately after I realized that the best linebacker of my lifetime was gone forever.

Was there more to Seau driving off the side of a cliff in 2010 than just an accident? Why did Seau shoot himself in the chest? Was he trying to send us a message? And if it was something he was trying to tell us in the wake of this tragedy, was it to examine the story only his brain cells can tell?

We are not simply talking about the loss of a minor figure in the landscape of the NFL. Junior Seau was not a Dave Duerson—while Duerson was a four-time Pro Bowl player in his own right—the former USC Trojan linebacker was a legend in this game. Seau played in the NFL for 20 seasons and changed how his position was viewed in the sport. Few players sprinkled across time are of the caliber of a Junior Seau. When the strange details of this untimely passing begin to make their way out, the NFL may never be the same.

After details of Duerson's death were released, concussion awareness became a topic of heightened prominence. Former players have arrived in flocks with lawsuits against the NFL for failing to protect their safety and well-being.

Researchers' findings could pave an avenue for the league to make wholesale changes to the game we're used to. What if Seau's brain resembles that of a 70-year old man? What if the determination is made that playing in the NFL for two decades had a physical effect on his cognitive actions during his final days? The NFL will be forced to take further action in making sure this kind of tragedy never repeats itself.

As reality settles in that a legend is gone forever, we need to realize that an even larger story is only beginning. We will have plenty of time to speculate: How will this death change the landscape of the NFL forever?