NFL player dies after preseason game
Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 9:50 am
My poor 9ers...San Francisco offensive lineman Thomas Herrion has collapsed in the locker room and died, shortly after the 49ers played the Denver Broncos in a preseason game.
Herrion, a 191cm (6ft 3in), 141kg 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 post game 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 died. The cause of death was not immediately known.
"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.
Temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius with 50 per cent humidity on Saturday night in Denver, although experts say heatstroke can occur even in cool conditions.
"We didn't see anything happen," Niners defensive lineman Marques Douglas said. "I sat by my locker and prayed for him."
Herrion, a first-year player with the 49ers, played college football at Utah State University and spent part of last season on the San Francisco and Dallas practice squads and also played this season with the Hamburg Sea Dogs of NFL Europe.
