Athletes - Al Lucas

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	Athletes - Al Lucas

Al Lucas (September 1, 1978 – April 10, 2005) was a football player in the NFL and Arena Football League before dying in a game for the Los Angeles Avengers.

Early life and college career

Lucas was born in Macon, Georgia; his father Georgia State Representative David Lucas and his mother was Macon City Councilwoman Elaine Lucas. He attended and played football for Northeast High School. While there, he set the school record with a 440-pound bench press. Nicknamed "Big Luke", he went on to play football at Troy State University. Lucas also served as an assistant football coach at Northeast High. He was married to De-Shonda Lucas with one daughter, Mariah.

At Troy State, Lucas was a standout player. In his senior year (1999), he won the Buck Buchanan Award as the most outstanding defensive player in NCAA Division I-AA. He was also honored with unanimous All-America and All-Southland Football League first team selections that year, in which he compiled 126 tackles (twenty for losses), fifteen "quarterback hurries", four sacks, and two forced fumbles.

Lucas played a total of forty-three games for the Trojans, and finished his college career with 255 tackles (thirty-six for losses), twenty-five quarterback hurries, and eleven and a half sacks. In addition, he saw some limited action at running back in his junior and senior seasons, scoring seven touchdowns.

Professional football career

Lucas played in twenty games for the Carolina Panthers over the course of the 2000 and 2001 NFL seasons. He totaled 49.5 tackles, three "quarterback hurries", two batted down passes, a forced fumble, and a sack. He was selected by the Frankfurt Galaxy with the fourth overall pick in the 2003 NFL Europe free-agent draft, but chose instead to begin his AFL career with the Tampa Bay Storm.

In his rookie season with Tampa Bay, Lucas was an immediate impact on his new team. He had 19.5 tackles, three for losses, 1.5 sacks, a blocked kick, and a safety, and was a major factor in the Storm's ArenaBowl victory over the Arizona Rattlers. After that season, Lucas was one of the most sought-after free agents in the League, and signed a three-year contract with Los Angeles on October 27, 2003.

In the 2004 season, Lucas played in all sixteen games for the Avengers and led the team's linemen with 18.5 tackles. He also had three quarterback sacks, three fumble recoveries (one for a touchdown), two batted down passes, a forced fumble, and a safety.

On April 10 2005 in a game against the New York Dragons, Lucas tackled Corey Johnson during a kickoff return with ten minutes, seventeen seconds, to go in the first quarter. He appeared to suffer a spinal cord injury. He was rushed to nearby California Hospital, where he died at 1:28pm PDT.

Statement on Lucas' death

Dr. Lugo Podesta, Team Physician: :"During the game today, Al Lucas suffered a presumed spinal cord injury and was brought to California Hospital where all attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at 1:28 p.m. (PT) today."

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