Posted on 10/01/2004 10:04:34 AM PDT by Hatteras
HERKIMER, N.Y. - Justin Strzelczyk, a former player for the Pittsburgh Steelers (news), died Thursday in a fiery head-on collision with a tanker truck after he led state troopers on a 40-mile highway chase during morning rush hour.
Strzelczyk, 36, was an offensive lineman with the Steelers for nearly a decade until the team released him in February 2000.
State police said Strzelczyk crashed his pickup truck into the westbound empty tanker just moments after swerving around a tractor-trailer that pulled across the highway to block the eastbound lanes. Strzelczyk drove 15 miles on three tires and a rim after one of his pickup's tires was punctured by metal spikes thrown into the road by troopers.
(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.yahoo.com ...
Drugs and/or alcohol
Very sad - thankfully he did not kill anyone but himself.
Mary Joyce Strzelczyk, of West Seneca, N.Y., said she suspected her son may have been suffering from an untreated mental or emotional disorder.
"I'm kind of numb right now," she told The Buffalo News in Friday's editions. "I had seen trouble with his mood disorders coming."
She said she last saw her son in Pittsburgh last weekend when she went to visit her grandchildren.
herkimer ping.
Steroids?
they have rush hour in herkimer?
I'm sure Justin was a very gentle man.
Sad news to all Steeler fans.
Well, he WAS doing 88 mph. If that's not "rushing"...
curious? which part do you not understand?
It's a real shame when a life is wasted...
My "curious" comment was due to the question of whether this might be the result of a career's worth of steroid use. Also, this is the second Steeler lineman to die young. A third (Terry Long) unsuccessfully attempted suicide a few years back. Not to point this all at the Steelers, add also, the story of the Oakland Raiders center who skipped out on the team at the Super Bowl a couple of years ago only to be found wandering in a stupor early Super Bowl Sunday morning.
While the number of NFL Lineman who have had problems is relatively low in comparison with the rest of their teammates and shouldn't be considered "alarming", I do find it curious.
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