INDIANAPOLIS — Vikings coach Leslie Frazier received a message from his former Bears teammate Dave Duerson a few weeks back. Frazier tried to return the call, but the two never connected.
Frazier said that now haunts him after the 50-year-old Duerson shot himself to death last week at his Florida home. "He was a great guy. He was a smart guy, Notre Dame grad, well educated," Frazier said Friday. "The transition from the National Football League -- and it's been well documented -- it's not an easy transition, as you guys know. ... It's hard."
Frazier played cornerback and Duerson was the strong safety on the 1985 Bears team that won the Super Bowl. Their wives became good friends.
Frazier, 51, said the last time he saw Duerson was last March at a function, but the two did stay in touch. Duerson called Frazier to congratulate him when he was named the Vikings' permanent coach in January. Duerson had provided support for Frazier when Frazier took his first coaching job in 1988, starting the football program at Trinity International University in Illinois. Frazier coached at Trinity through 1996.
Duerson reportedly sent text messages to friends and family before he killed himself, asking that his brain be sent to be examined by researchers who could determine the neurological toll of playing in the NFL.
Asked if he had felt there were any changes in Duerson's demeanor when he talked to him, Frazier said: "No, and when I talked to some of my former teammates who were in more recent contact they hadn't seen those things either. ... It's just hard to come to grips with the fact he's no longer with us. It's just very, very hard."
