As a college football fan, it’s slightly embarrassing to me that I’d only discovered Tony Fein this summer.
 
Fein received significant mention in Bruce Feldman’s book “Meat Market,” a chronicle of the Ole Miss Rebels’ recruiting efforts under then-coach Ed Orgeron, now the defensive line coach at Tennessee. The extent to which Ole Miss examined potential scholarship athletes was incredibly detailed — a real interesting read for any fan.
 
Fein’s case in particular stands out, mostly for his life before major college football. A native of Port Orchard, Wash., Fein served three and a half years in the Army, including one year in Iraq as a reconnaissance scout, often venturing to the front lines of battle.
 
From there, he played one season at Scottsdale (Ariz.) Community College, garnering Defensive Player of the Year honors in the All-Western States Football League. A linebacker, he recorded 136 tackles (12 for loss) with four interceptions and four forced fumbles during the 2006 football season, including an incomprehensibly impressive 26 tackles in a single game. Orgeron, concerned with the Rebels’ depth at linebacker, offered Fein a scholarship, and he committed to Ole Miss over several other schools, including Oregon.
 
Fein’s career with the Rebels was distinguished; he played in 24 games (starting seven at middle linebacker) in his two years at the school and accumulated 136 total tackles (eight for loss), — solid statistics for a man who turned 26 before his junior year of college. Fein did leave the Rebels after his junior year, however, to pursue further opportunities, including a possible NFL career.
 
Fein went undrafted in April’s NFL Draft but signed a contract with the Baltimore Ravens. He was released on Sept. 5, in the team’s final round of cuts, and returned home to Port Orchard to wait for his next NFL opportunity.
 
He will never get another one.
 
Fein was pronounced dead on Tuesday, hours after he was found collapsed and unconscious on the floor of a friend’s house. He went into cardiac arrest after the paramedics were called to the scene and died shortly after arriving at Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton, Wash. He was 27.
 
Fein followed three and a half years of vigorous, regimented activity in the Army with three and a half years of arduous physical activity. It is unknown whether he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from his time in service, but in today’s culture it begs further exploring. What little we do know is that a 27-year-old male in good physical condition has just died from what were said to be natural causes (an autopsy will take place in the near future), and that is just wrong.
 
Football takes an undue physical toll on the players who play it. Fans expect a certain physical courage on top of this toll, the ability to play through injuries and other ailments. Why else would Florida fans be clamoring for quarterback Tim Tebow to start in the top-ranked Gators’ biggest game of the year at No. 4 LSU, after suffering a concussion on Sept. 26 against Kentucky? Why else would Oregon fans be clamoring for quarterback Jeremiah Masoli to start this week against UCLA, despite a knee injury of unknown severity?
 
It’s hard to ignore the reality of football plays as traumatic events on the body, and harder still with every report of brain damage suffered by former NFL players or of heat stroke deaths suffered by high school athletes practicing in warm weather. Football culture teaches us to rub some dirt on it and move on.
 
According to a report on the Baltimore Ravens Web site, Fein was reluctant to talk about his military service in Iraq, offering few details into the life he left behind there. What happened there, no doubt, had a profound effect on him. Football may never have quite been the same afterward, as he progressed through higher and higher levels.
 
It is difficult to know what have could have helped Tony Fein in life, but appreciation for his contributions — as a person, as a serviceman, and as an athlete — can help to soothe the loss. We the fans share our favorite players’ victories in football and life without having to share the physical pain. With more attention, perhaps we’ll give the natural act of healing, in body and in mind, the attention it truly deserves.
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