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On Thursday, the death of NFL legend Junior Seau was officially ruled a suicide by the San Diego County medical examiner. While those who knew and loved the man are left to comprehend this, it has now been reported that Seau's family will allow his brain to be examined for damage resulting from concussions and other head trauma the linebacker may have suffered through his 20-year NFL career. The 43-year-old Seau shot himself in the chest at his Oceanside, Calif., home on Wednesday.

"The family was considering this almost from the beginning, but they didn't want to make any emotional decisions," San Diego Chargers team chaplain Shawn Mitchell told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday. "And when they came to a joint decision that absolutely this was the best thing, it was a natural occurrence for the Seau family to go forward."

The autopsy determining the cause of Seau's death was assisted by Dr. Bennett Omalu, the San Joaquin County chief medical examiner, and the man credited with identifying Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), the neurological disorder caused by repeated head trauma. As the co-founder of the Brain Injury Research Institute, Omalu has been studying the impacts of concussions for years. The institute Omalu co-founded with Dr. Julian Bailes is one organization asking to study Seau's brain; another is the Sports Legacy Institute at Boston University, an organization that has received funding from the NFL.

[Related: Junior Seau was gregarious, hilarious and immensely popular]

According to a January 2011 ESPN article, doctors from both organizations once worked together, but now "compete" to further research in their fields. Public knowledge of CTE really began in 2002, when Omalu, then working as a medical examiner in the Allegheny County, Pa., coroner's office, found unusually high amounts of tau protein in the brain of former Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster. This led to his link between multiple concussions and long-term brain damage, a conclusion that the NFL went out of its way to discredit. Omalu  then studied the brain of Philadelphia Eagles safety Andre Waters, who committed suicide in 2006. Omalu found that Waters' head traumas had left him with early onset Alzheimer's disease and the mental capacity of an 85-year-old. Waters was 44 at the time of his death.

Public awareness increased when former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson killed himself in January of 2011 by shooting himself in the chest so that his brain could be studied and analyzed for CTE symptoms. It was revealed that brain trauma led to the depression that caused Duerson to take his life. At the same time, a series of lawsuits filed by former NFL players, claiming that the NFL withheld knowledge of the effects of concussions, became more of a public issue. Currently, the number of former players suing the league in a number of class-action cases exceeds 1,500.

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Junior Seau's apparent suicide has left his fans shocked and heartbroken. And Junior had many fans. In the wake of his death Wednesday, stories have surfaced from folks who were forever changed by Seau's compassion and charisma.

[Related: Too soon to judge role NFL, head trauma may have had in Seau's passing]

(Getty Images)Albert Flores Jr., a U.S. Marine Corps captain, sent in his Seau moment to sports blog Deadspin. Flores was in a Southern California bar one evening. Just a few folks in the bar, and one happened to be Junior Seau and a couple of his relatives.

According to Flores' letter to Deadspin, Seau talked with Flores for several hours about the military and his tremendous respect for people in the armed forces. Eventually the talk shifted to music, and Seau "began to brag" about his skill with the ukulele. Flores "called him on it," and Seau went out to his car, brought back his instrument, and played "Brown-Eyed Girl" to a stunned bar.

In Flores' words:

"One of the most ferocious tacklers in the history of football was playing a ukulele in an empty bar at 11:00 p.m. and serenading the few that remained. He then started to play some more and his cousin and uncle joined in the chorus. They were a harmonic family full of melodies ... and they were good — real good. ... I hope this story will aid in an attempt to remember not only a linebacker but a fun, loving person as well."

Eric Olsen, an offensive guard for the New Orleans Saints, took to Twitter after Seau's death. Like Flores' recollection, Olsen's anecdote illustrates Seau's huge heart and sense of humor.

Getty ImagesThere was a lot of player reaction to Commissioner Goodell's Wednesday decision to suspend Jonathan Vilma for a year. Most of it was negative and/or disbelieving, as this collection illustrates. Reggie Bush even said, "I bet you won't find one NFL Player who agrees with these suspensions."

Reggie Bush bet wrong.

Eli Manning, on a media call yesterday to promote his Saturday Night Live appearance, had supportive words for the commissioner and his hammer of justice. Via the Fifth Down:

"I think he's doing the right thing to make sure this doesn't ever happen again," Manning said. "There's no room for any type of bounty system in the N.F.L. You have to respect the game."

Manning added: "I think he's been harsh to try and prove, to make a statement, that there is no place for this in the game of football."

Stands to reason, as Eli Manning is a star quarterback, and thus, among the most likely to be the target of a bounty. It's sort of like a leprechaun speaking out in favor of a law that would harshly punish who beat leprechauns with baseball bats. What position did you expect him to take?

Also, even if Reggie Bush was right, and every single player in the league was against the penalties (which, again, just isn't true), would it matter? You can't get an unbiased opinion of a disciplinarian from the people subject to his/her discipline. When I was four, I got in trouble for dunking my mom's curling iron in the toilet. I thought she was a meanie. My opinion was perhaps not one that should've been considered valid.

Now that the 2012 NFL Draft is in the can, it's time to take the Shutdown 50 scouting format forward and take a closer look at some of the surprising and fascinating selections from this year's draft -- the guys we missed in the original 50, but who could be impact players now or down the road. Our latest entry: Arizona State quarterback Brock Osweiler, selected by the Denver Broncos with the 25th pick in the second round (57th overall).

Overview: Osweiler is a close friend of Jack Elway, son of Broncos big Kahuna John Elway. In fact, Elway and Osweiler were part of a messy five-way battle for the Arizona State quarterback job before the younger Elway gave up football.

So it is not too misleading to say that Osweiler beat Elway for the starting job. And once you beat an Elway, you become an Elway. Osweiler now drives around Colorado in his adopted dad's vintage Camaro in a throwback Stanford jersey, parking in restricted areas but getting away with it because he has "Elway Immunity" from prosecution. (Editor's note: that last sentence is almost certainly not true.)

John Elway didn't draft Osweiler just to make his son feel better, of course. Osweiler is a developmental quarterback, and the Broncos are exactly the kind of team that needs a developmental quarterback. Osweiler has the arm to be an NFL starter, but his 6-foot-6 7/8 frame is more of a liability than an asset. There is such a thing as a quarterback who is too tall to start in the NFL, and Osweiler has to scrunch down to get under the limit.

Strengths: Osweiler has an excellent arm and good accuracy. He can zip the ball into tight spots in the middle of the field and has enough oomph to throw NFL out-routes. He has good timing and accuracy on out routes and slants, anticipating and releasing the ball before his receivers come out of their breaks.

Osweiler runs well for a lanky guy. Arizona State used a lot of spread-option principles, and Osweiler was not afraid to keep the ball and take a lick in the middle of the field. He is a long strider, but he occasionally showed a bit of cutting ability.

Osweiler gets high marks for his mental makeup from those who know him well, among whom we can include the Elway family.

Weaknesses: Osweiler is a long-levered quarterback, the kind that loses foot quickness and release quickness early in his career. Joe Flacco is a fine example: Flacco was fast enough to run option plays as a rookie, but he now has trouble sliding around the pocket, and when his anticipation is not precise he has a hard time getting his long arm cocked and loaded in time to throw into a tight spot.

Bruce Irvin holds up his new jersey; ACME Rocket Booster sold separately on replicas. (AP)

Now that the 2012 NFL Draft is in the can, it's time to take the Shutdown 50 scouting format forward and take a closer look at some of the surprising and fascinating selections from this year's draft -- the guys we missed in the original 50, but who could be impact players now or down the road. Our first entry: West Virginia OLB/DE Bruce Irvin, selected by the Seattle Seahawks with the 15th overall pick.

Overview: So ... if Irvin was the 15th player taken in the draft, how did we miss him in the original 50? The answer lies in a functional disconnect between media people who evaluate players, and the guys who do it for actual NFL teams. Irvin was given a second-round grade by most of the people on our side of the fence for two reasons -- prior character dings, and the perception that he's a one-trick pony with limited pro potential. NFL teams, however, checked out his checkered past, looked at the tape, and saw how he would work in their defenses - especially after he's coached up on a few things and put in the right place in a defensive front. To put it kindly, the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Irvin was often misplayed at West Virginia. A player who looks like a pass-rushing version of DeSean Jackson should not line up for half his snaps on the tackle's inside shoulder so that he can be nuked by blockers who outweigh him by 80 pounds.

At his first NFL conference call, Irvin spoke to the college coaching issues, and outlined his potential. "I used to play receiver in high school. I feel like I'm a great athlete. Like I said, I got 23 sacks in two years without any pass rushing coaching. So just imagine if I've got a coach that knows what he's talking about to teach me some stuff. I'm going to do great stuff for this organization. The sky is the limit for me. I just need a great group of people around me and get around a great group of pros who are going to show me how to be a pro on and off the field and I think I'll be all right."

The Seahawks weren't the only team looking at Irvin in the first round, but they got him, and general manager John Schneider could not have been happier about a pick that left people scratching their heads at first. "We were extremely excited," Schneider said last Thursday. "We didn't want to get too cute with this. We obviously viewed him as the best pass rusher in the draft. Trying to add that to our team, add to the team speed. There was a certain area we thought we could get to and then we talked about going back again and then we decided to go ahead and lock it down. We had this guy rated as one of the top players in the draft."

So, he's raw clay, formed into the shape of a scud missile? The West Virginia tape does show that potential ... when Irvin is in the right place, and not forced to take double teams in a tight 3-3-5 stack (which I will term the "WTF Defense" in this case).

Strengths: Irvin may be the fastest pass-rusher I have ever seen. As far as pure burn off the line, he's cartoonish. Comes off the ball and gets a couple of steps in before all but the best tackles can get their hands up and feet set to deal with him. Has closing speed to the quarterback or ballcarrier common to the fastest cornerbacks. Made a play against Clemson in 2011 (at the 2:00 mark in the video below) in which he was blocked out by the left tackle, ran across the formation, and got upfield to tackle the quarterback in a play you have to see to believe.

That's what I call "football porn."

Reads the run and adjusts to change of direction in the backfield surprisingly well. Irvin can stop on a dime in space, which had to excite NFL teams interested in developing that innate ability. Doesn't bite on play-fakes and play action as often or as drastically as you might expect; seems to have a pretty good head for where the action is at any time.

Weaknesses: Has a bull rush of sorts based on leverage, but strength is not part of Irvin's game, and if he's not using the speed advantage, he'll get absolutely rag-dolled by the NFL's offensive linemen. He'll also get pulverized when pinching inside to help with inside running plays -- not a strong defender because he'll either outrun or get pushed out of gaps. Struggles to get around tackles with better footwork, even on the outside shoulder or outside the formation.

For a quarterback with an awkward personality, Eli Manning is a pretty decent comedian.

We'll know more after his "Saturday Night Live" hosting gig on Saturday night, but he's not bad in his promos for the show. He's not good, but for a guy who has no experience and a reputation for being a bit of a goober, he looks comfortable.

Watch until the last one. Even though you know what's coming, it's still pretty solid.

At this rate Eli will fall somewhere just below Peyton and far above January Jones in the pantheon of "SNL" hosts.

In a moment of reflection, Larry Izzo contemplates the impact of his "next move." (Getty Images)

Now that many elite NFL players have broken down the stigma of "adult protective undergarments" with their Depend endorsements (we recently spoke to Wes Welker, Clay Matthews and DeMarcus Ware on this very subject), a new NFL topic has been making the rounds: How do players deal with it when they're in the middle of a game, and nature calls at a DEFCON level? Per Yahoo!'s own Jeff Passan, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's Jered Weaver dealt with this issue as he was twirling his no-hitter Wednesday night, but it's a bit easier when you have the breakup of innings to deal with what must be dealt with.

Speaking with ESPN's Dan LeBatard on Wednesday, Welker confirmed a story told to LeBatard by Zach Thomas of the Miami Dolphins. The All-Pro receiver revealed that former New England Patriots teammate Larry Izzo once dealt with a No. 2 issue in his own no-nonsense fashion -- and earned a game ball for his trouble because he did so without anybody noticing.

"This is 100 percent true," Welker said. "And Larry would be so mad at me if I said that this didn't happen, because he takes ultimate pride in this whole deal. Of all the special teams tackles and Pro Bowls he's made, I guarantee you that game ball is probably a more prized item for him than his Super Bowl rings."

Asked how Izzo managed to get away with it, Welker made it very simple: "Because he's Izzo! It's what he does. I'm telling you -- the guy is phenomenal! The only time I see Larry is when he comes out of the bathroom to get a clothes hanger. He has issues. He takes, like, eight Red Bulls, and all these supplements to try and get ready for the game. He's just phenomenal."

Welker also spoke about the "insane" toilet in Tom Brady's house.

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Ball So Hard University won't have its most famous alum on the field this season.

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs tore his Achilles tendon while training in Arizona and is expected to miss the entire 2012 season.

The reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year suffered the injury one week after the Ravens took Alabama linebacker Courtney Upshaw in the NFL draft.

[Jason Cole: Dolphins, Steelers score high AFC draft grades | NFC grades]

Adam Schefter reports Suggs suffered the injury while playing basketball and will undergo surgery on the tear next week.

Suggs told Ravens Insider that he'll be back midseason. "I love how you guys are saying 'out for the season,'" he said. "Just gonna make my comeback that much bigger."

His absence will leave a huge hole in a Ravens defense that ranked third in the NFL in 2011. The 29-year-old was coming off his best season as a pro. He had 14 sacks and seven forced fumbles in Baltimore's 12-4 campaign.

The linebacker denied that basketball led