Before Brian Dawkins was rocking the #20, the Eagles had Andre Waters patrolling the secondary. Waters was a fixture of Buddy Ryan's Gang Green defense, a tough-as-nails safety who four times led the team in tackles, and received All-Pro honors in 1991. Waters's play was often overshadowed by his perceived shady tactics, as his brutal hits (including a low blow on Rams QB Jim Everett, which led to a rule change about hitting quarterbacks below the waist in the pocket) led him to be deemed "Dirty Waters" by broadcasters and peers--which, naturally, endeared him to Birds fans even more.
Despite Waters being a fan favorite for his hard-hitting stylings, those hard hits took more than their toll on the man himself. Multiple concussions suffered throughout his pro career--before their meaning or consequence were really understood by the powers that be--likely led to a serious depression in Waters's post-playing career. On November 20th, 2006, he shot himself in the head, and was found dead by his girlfriend. He was 44 years old.
"What a devastating piece of news," said Eagles broadcaster Merrill Reese. "Andre was a
guy who could light up a room with his personality. As a
football player, he came from nothing. But he made himself into
a fine player by working hard and dedicating himself to the
game." Waters had been working as an assistant football coach at Fort Valley State, after trying and failing to secure a job in the NFL. It was just a couple months into his first season. "It hurts me to know that Andre was in such a deep depression and in so
much pain emotionally that he felt that taking his own life was an
option," said teammate Eric Allen. "He had so much to live for and I wish he knew there were other options."
When Waters's brain was studied after his death--an effort spearheaded by ex-WWE wrestler Christopher Nowinski, who knew a thing or two about concussions himself--it was found to have degenerated in tissue to something similar to an 85-year-old victim of early-stage Alzheimer's. The little solace friends, family and fans could find in Andre's death was that it helped increase awareness of just how serious it can be when an on-field blow causes your brain to slosh around inside your head--an awareness that continues to inspire new rules and precautions to help prevent cases like the tragic suicide of Andre Waters from happening again.
