Death is a fascinating thing. Not in a creepy kind of way, but rather when we see people die we are reminded of our own mortality. That’s especially true with those younger than us and famous.
When athletes like Harmon Killebrew die, it’s a sad thing, but not so much unexpected. In these cases it becomes a retrospective on his life, all the great a person accomplished.
Someone like Brandon Everage, former Oklahoma Sooners All-American defensive back who was just 30 when he was pronounced dead Saturday, it’s more a question of what happened to him. We want the details of the death. Was it accidental? Murder? Suicide? Natural causes? And then what happened to him after college. Why didn’t he ever turn pro? Did he stay on the right track in life?
In Everage’s case, he was just out having fun doing things he enjoyed at the time of his death. The area that he was swimming in though is notorious for having rough and unpredictable currents. In fact, the dive team said they were taking special precautions on their search for fear of some of the strong currents in the area.
Combine Everage’s death with that of Austin Box, who looked to have a bright future ahead of him at Oklahoma and you really kind of feel for Oklahoma.
Young athlete deaths are often tough to take. They aren’t supposed to happen. Unfortunately they do.
Just recently in addition to Box, there was Robert “Tractor” Traylor, who many forget was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks and quickly traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Dirk Nowitzki.
There was also Ron Springs, former Dallas Cowboy. Okay so a lot of people don’t consider 54 to be all that young, but still.
How about 28-year old hockey player Derek Boogaard? Or San Jose State softball pitcher Deanna Mauer?
There’s been lots of great sports stars die young through the years. Lou Gehrig wasn’t exactly over the hill when he left us. Len Bias, Reggie Lewis, Sean Taylor, Dale Earnhardt, Nick Adenhart, Darryl Kile.
Of course, anyone who thinks the Sooners may have suffered a slight curse lately should talk to the Astros.
I think it would be interesting to see franchise by franchise how many former athletes die at a relatively young age.
For the Astros, beside Kile, Jose Lima and Ken Caminiti played for the Astros in mid-to-late 1990s. All three are dead. Don Wilson, found dead in the 1970s, Dave Smith, Andujar Cedeno, Aurelio Lopez just to name a few.
I’m sure there’s other franchises with bigger lists. And each and every one of the deaths of these young and talented people reminds us just how mortal we really are.
Ken Caminiti was 41 when he died.
