NFL

Dave Duerson’s Ex-Wife Describes Disturbing Text She Received Before His Suicide

Last week, former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest. The reason he shot himself in the chest and not the head, it’s believed, is because he wanted to preserve his brain for scientific tests.

Duerson believed that a career of hitting (and being hit) had done irreversible damage to his brain, and he wanted the evidence intact. Soon, we’ll know if he was right: researchers at Boston University’s School of Medicine are currently running tests on Duerson’s brain matter, searching for signs of the degenerative brain diseases that have victimized several other former players.

In text messages sent out to family and friends before he shot himself, Duerson wanted to make sure his wishes were clear. One of the people who received a text from Duerson was Alicia, his ex-wife. She divorced Duerson after he was charged with pushing her in 2005, but the two obviously remained in contact. She described the text she received from Duerson in an interview with NBC Chicago.

“The text said that he loved me and he loved the kids and for me to love the kids,” Alicia said.  “And that he thought there was something wrong with the left side of his brain and for me to please get his brain to the NFL.”

According to Alicia, Duerson had made it through the darkest of his financial troubles (he was forced to auction off most of his assets in 2006, and in 2007, he foreclosed his home). Although money problems certainly could have been a contributing factor to his depression, she’s convinced it wasn’t the only reason Dave took his life.

Watch the full interview here: