Eric Scoggins, RIP

[GA Russell]

Eric Scoggins was a linebacker whose name rings a bell, probably because he played in the USFL (I had tickets for the Philly Stars.).

I am posting this because he died of Lou Gehrig's disease. I posted on the CFL thread some months ago that the number of Canadian league alumni who die of ALS is way out of proportion to the population in general. It makes you wonder.

Here's his LA Times obituary.

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...0,2861888.story

Eric Scoggins, 49, an outside linebacker who helped USC beat Alabama in the teams' big 1978 matchup, died of Lou Gehrig's disease Saturday in Tracy, Calif., USC announced Tuesday.

Scoggins played three games for the San Francisco 49ers in 1982, then spent time in the United States Football League with the Los Angeles Express and Houston Gamblers.

He was a four-year letterman at USC (1977-80). He recorded 164 career tackles, including 11 as a sophomore in the 24-14 win at Alabama. That performance earned him the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week award. The Trojans finished the 1978 season 12-1 and won the United Press International voting for the national championship. Alabama, at 11-1, won the Associated Press national title.

Born Jan. 23, 1959, in Inglewood, Scoggins was a star quarterback at Inglewood High School. After he retired from football, he became a businessman and joined former 49er teammates Ronnie Lott and Keena Turner in auto dealerships.

A resident of Tracy, Scoggins was diagnosed in 2007 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative disease often called Lou Gehrig's disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.