Al Lucas

Albert Lucas (September 1, 1978 – April 10, 2005) was an American professional football player who played in the National Football League (NFL) and Arena Football League (AFL). He died from a game-related spinal cord injury while playing for the Los Angeles Avengers.

Early life and college Lucas was born in Macon, Georgia; his father was Georgia State Representative David Lucas and his mother was Macon City Councilwoman Elaine Lucas. He attended and played football for Northeast Health Science Magnet High School. While there, he set the school record with a 440-pound (200-kg) bench press. Nicknamed "Big Luke", he went on to play college 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. He was a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

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), 15 "quarterback hurries", four sacks, and two forced fumbles.

Lucas played a total of 43 games for the Trojans, and finished his college career with 255 tackles (thirty-six for losses), 25 quarterback hurries, and 11.5 sacks. In addition, he saw some limited action at running back in his junior and senior seasons, scoring seven touchdowns.

Professional career After going undrafted in the 2000 NFL draft, Lucas signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL on April 21, 2000. Later replays and reports showed nothing abnormal on the play. Dr. William Lang, the team physician, attempted to revive him on the field. He appeared to suffer a spinal cord injury. After being treated for approximately a half an hour at the Staples Center, Lucas was rushed to nearby California Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 1:28pm PDT. It is unknown whether Lucas died on the field, or after treatment failed. An autopsy revealed that he died of blunt force trauma and an upper spinal cord injury.

Approximately half an hour after the game concluded, Lucas's death was confirmed by Avengers' primary team physician, Luga Podesta, who stated, "During the game today, Al Lucas suffered a presumed spinal cord injury and was brought to California Hospital Medical Center where all attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at 1:28 p.m."

Legacy The Avengers retired Lucas's number 76 during the 2006 season and the Tampa Bay Storm created the Mariah Lucas Scholarship Fund to benefit Lucas's daughter and wife, and the Lucas family itself started an Al Lucas Memorial Scholarship Fund which provides college scholarships to high school athletes.

The Maxwell Football Club renamed its Arena Football League Player of the Year Award to the Al Lucas Award in honor of Lucas; this award was discontinued after the 2007 season. The East Macon Park Little League field where Lucas played baseball was renamed Albert James Lucas "Big Luke" Memorial Field in 2006, and the AFL has renamed its Hero Award the Al Lucas Award.