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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Former BYU football captain Brad Martin, who struggled with drug addiction after his playing career, was found dead of unknown causes at his home. He was 30.
Martin played at BYU from 1995-1998. His body was found by his landlord Tuesday, likely five to six days after he died, police told his family. An autopsy was inconclusive and toxicology results will take about three weeks, said Robert Martin, Brad's father.
"We don't really know what happened," Robert Martin said. "It just came so unexpectedly to us."
"As a football family, we are all deeply saddened by the loss of one of our own," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said in a release. "We express our deepest, heart felt sympathy to the Martin family and want them to know our thoughts and prayers are with them."
Brad Martin was injured in a car accident during his senior season. He took prescription painkillers for a neck injury and struggled with addiction after his playing career, Robert Martin said.
"He did it because it was the only way he could play," Robert Martin said. "He never messed with that stuff until he needed it to stay on the field. It just got control of his life there for a while."
Martin filed suit against BYU, claiming the school "continually allowed me to play football despite my injuries" and "provided me with an abundance of painkillers ... to allow me to play though the pain in my last football season." It was settled out of court.
Brad Martin went through drug rehabilitation and had been clean for about a year, his father said.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APTV-06-03-06 1301MDT
