Grant Feasel

Grant Feasel
No. 50, 64, 54
Position:Center
Personal information
Born:(1960-06-28)June 28, 1960
Barstow, California. U.S.
Died:July 15, 2012(2012-07-15) (aged 52)
Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Height:6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Weight:278 lb (126 kg)
Career information
High school:Barstow (CA)
College:Abilene Christian
NFL draft:1983 / round: 6 / pick: 161
Career history
Career NFL statistics
Games played:117
Games started:54
Fumble recoveries:7
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Grant Earl Feasel (June 28, 1960 – July 15, 2012) was an American football center in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings, and Seattle Seahawks.[1]

Early life

Born and raised in Barstow, California, Feasel graduated from Barstow High School in 1978, then was a standout football player and a first-team All-America center at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas.[2] In 1997, he was named to the NCAA Division II Team of the Quarter Century.[3]

Professional career

Feasel was selected in the sixth round of the 1983 NFL draft by the Baltimore Colts. He played in the 1983 season in Baltimore, then the franchise relocated to Indianapolis. He played part of the 1984 season, then was traded mid-season to the Minnesota Vikings.

He played two years for the Vikings, then was traded to the Seattle Seahawks in 1987,[4] where he played six of his ten years in the NFL.

Personal life

Feasel married Cyndy and they had three children: sons Sean and Spencer, and daughter Sarah.[5] His older brother Greg (b.1958) also played at Abilene Christian and in the NFL and is also the president of the Colorado Rockies of the MLB.[6]

After football

Feasel died at age 52 in 2012 in Fort Worth, Texas.[6] His family donated his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation. He was diagnosed posthumously with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease.[7][5] He was one of at least 345 NFL players to be diagnosed after death with this disease, which is caused by repeated hits to the head.[8][9]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Former ACU, NFL lineman, Grant Feasel, passes away at age 52". KTXS.com. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  2. ^ "ACU Remembers: Grant Feasel". July 18, 2012.
  3. ^ "Seahawks Legends | Remembering Grant Feasel". www.seahawkslegends.com. Archived from the original on November 20, 2016.
  4. ^ Clayton, John (November 1, 1990). "'Robo Center' Feasel continues to amaze Hawks". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). McClatchy News Service. p. D2.
  5. ^ a b "Former Seahawk Grant Feasel's family hit hard by football's trauma". March 15, 2014.
  6. ^ a b Caplan, Jeff (January 27, 2017). "NFL's dark side: Haunted by husband's death, widow takes CTE fight to Super Bowl". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. (Texas). Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  7. ^ "Grant Feasel | Concussion Legacy Foundation". concussionfoundation.org. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015.
  8. ^ "The driving force behind Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)". Concussion Legacy Foundation. Archived from the original on July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  9. ^ Ken Belson and Benjamin Mueller (June 20, 2023). "Collective Force of Head Hits, Not Just the Number of Them, Increases Odds of C.T.E. The largest study of chronic traumatic encephalopathy to date found that the cumulative force of head hits absorbed by players in their careers is the best predictor of future brain disease". The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2023.