Sad News: Pio Sagapolutele has died

[italian pat patriot]

riposa in pace

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

terrible news.

The subject of linemen getting "normal bodies back" after football is over, in an effort to prevent early heart and joint problems, is covered in a nice article in Sports Illustrated i read on a plane this weekend.

A new emphasis is to give these guys nutritional guidance as their careers end (not that in this case it necessarily would have helped, with an anuerysm)

Oregon Ducks Jeff Kendall, Cole Linehan work to*lose*game bodies - George Dohrmann - SI.com

 

[NYCPatsFan]

So there's supposed to be a time limit on speculating the cause of a stroke or heart attack of a 39 year old? Or should I have waited for the fifth post instead?

Looks like the response was towards you raising the query on possible drug abuse when there was no news to that effect.

Edit: And looks you addressed it in your subsequent post...

Sad to read about it. RIP.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

EDIT: If it wasn't me, someone else would have brought it up. I apologize if it offended you, but that's just the way I am. I would assume that you knew you were going to see all sorts of different personalities when joining a public forum.

I read a lot of your posts and you're usually well informed and thoughtful. I did think that your jumping to that question so quickly was a little unfair to Pio's memory, absent any other specific information, which you were not able to provide in the context of your comment.

I used to work with a guy who started for a major Division I team, got drafted by the 'Boys and spent a couple of years in two NFL Training Camps and on Practice Squads before reading the handwriting on the wall and concluding that "it wasn't going to happen" for him in the NFL (he did have some great stories tho!). After hearing him describe the stresses that training and playing at that level put on the body, I always assume that a premature death or serious problem for a former NFL'er is related to his profession legitimately pursued and not to something he did inappropriately.

In this case, it looks like his death resulted from something else entirely.

 

[Kontradiction]

I read a lot of your posts and you're usually well informed and thoughtful. I did think that your jumping to that question so quickly was a little unfair to Pio's memory, absent any other specific information, which you were not able to provide in the context of your comment.

I used to work with a guy who started for a major Division I team, got drafted by the 'Boys and spent a couple of years in two NFL Training Camps and on Practice Squads before reading the handwriting on the wall and concluding that "it wasn't going to happen" for him in the NFL (he did have some great stories tho!). After hearing him describe the stresses that training and playing at that level put on the body, I always assume that a premature death or serious problem for a former NFL'er is related to his profession legitimately pursued and not to something he did inappropriately.

In this case, it looks like his death resulted from something else entirely.

I should bring up that raising the question of whether or not an NFL lineman-sized body caused his death is no less "indecent" than wondering if it was due to drugs/alcohol/pre-existing condition. The only difference is that the specific question wasn't raised as soon as my question.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

You really see no difference in speculating about whether somebody may have died from being too big/fat after football, or whether they may have died as a result of years of using illegal drugs (with no evidence of that)?

I see a difference. Not that your post was that offensive to me (it seems to come with the territory these days, steroid suspicions among athletes) but this last trivilization of the complaint irked me more than anything you wrote before.

 

[TrueBeliever]

This is really becoming all too common, these deaths of NFL players so soon after they leave the league. I remember back in the mid-90s, someone said that if Vince Lombardi were coaching today, he'd take one look at most linemen and tell them to get the *@#&$# out of his camp and come back when they'd lost 30 pounds. These guys today are SO big.

I can also relate to the "not seeing it coming" comments - when I was 29, I got this pain in my lower leg, which I figured was the result of my leg cramping up in my sleep. But it didn't go away no matter how much I stretched, it only got worse. Long story short, come to find out I had a blood clot in my leg that was less than a centimeter away from spreading to a major artery that went to my heart; I had to immediately start a regimen of blood thinner injections and I still take a blood thinning medication today and will for the rest of my life. My blood just has this antibody that tells it to clot when it doesn't need to. The doctor had never heard of something like that happening to someone my age.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I should bring up that raising the question of whether or not an NFL lineman-sized body caused his death is no less "indecent" than wondering if it was due to drugs/alcohol/pre-existing condition. The only difference is that the specific question wasn't raised as soon as my question.

No need to beat this horse any deader, and you did apologize in your other post, but I didn't use the word "indecent." I said "unfair" absent "specific information." I'd stand by that and would say the same of speculating about durg or alcohol abuse, absent specific information.

 

[Kontradiction]

You really see no difference in speculating about whether somebody may have died from being too big/fat after football, or whether they may have died as a result of years of using illegal drugs (with no evidence of that)?

I see a difference. Not that your post was that offensive to me (it seems to come with the territory these days, steroid suspicions among athletes) but this last trivilization of the complaint irked me more than anything you wrote before.

Not really, aside from one sounding worse than the other. How is it any more "heartless" (for lack of a better word) to speculate whether one thing or another caused someone's untimely death? After all, the original complaint on my first post was the timing of the question.

No need to beat this horse any deader, and you did apologize in your other post, but I didn't use the word "indecent." I said "unfair" absent "specific information." I'd stand by that and would say the same of speculating about durg or alcohol abuse, absent specific information.

Aye. That's actually what I came in here to say. All this back and forth over whether or not the statement was harsh or too soon is ruining what should be a memorial thread for a former Patriot. I will say no more from here. R.I.P. Pio.

 

[captain stone]

Sad to hear of Pio's dying like that. With an aneurysm, though, that could happen to anyone at anytime, without any warning.

Sadly true. Just days after the Irish Open dance championships concluded last month in Dublin, the owner of one of the schools in Ireland suffered an aneurysm and died a few days later. She was only in her early 40s, in otherwise great health, and left behind a husband & 2 kids under 12.

But back to Pio: he helped solidify a generally mediocre D-Line that season, and I was disappointed when he wasn't retained by the new administration. In retrospect, though, I should not have been surprised. Booby Grier was one of the worst evaluators of this generation.

Glad that you're still with us, Gwedd.

 

[RDS11]

RIP Pio.
1996 just seems like yesterday. The defensive line had no big name other than McGinest in '96 but they were solid as a unit, especially at the end of the season after that Denver game. Pio, Mark Wheeler, Mike Jones & Ferric Collons were integral part of a defense that didn't allow more than 13 points for 7 straight games leading to the Super Bowl.

 

[Deus Irae]

RIP Pio.
1996 just seems like yesterday. The defensive line had no big name other than McGinest in '96 but they were solid as a unit, especially at the end of the season after that Denver game. Pio, Mark Wheeler, Mike Jones & Ferric Collons were integral part of a defense that didn't allow more than 13 points for 7 straight games leading to the Super Bowl.

It truly was a surreal year for me, both Patriots-wise and in life. Parcells going Benedict Arnold and then a $%^$%@ return man repeatedly sticking the dagger in really threw that game out of whack.

Pio was a small part of that. More importantly, though, is that I'm sure he was a big part of his family, and I hope that they are able to handle this shock and move forward.