Elijah Alexander
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| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | August 2, 1970 Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died: | March 24, 2010 (aged 39) Dallas, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 235 lb (107 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Fort Worth (TX) Dunbar | ||||||||
| College: | Kansas State | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1992 / Round: 10 / Pick: 254 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||
Elijah Alfred Alexander III (August 2, 1970 – March 24, 2010) was a linebacker who played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts and Oakland Raiders. In 2005 Alexander was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. In 2006, he founded the Tackle Myeloma Foundation, which raised funds to help find a cure and raise awareness about myeloma (since then shut down by his surviving wife).[1][2]
Early life
Alexander was born in
NFL career
The
In 1994, Alexander started all 16 games and he registered a career-high 88 tackles and 24 assists.[3] He played in only nine games in 1995 due to a shoulder injury. The next year with the Indianapolis Colts, he struggled with a hamstring injury at the beginning of the season but appeared in 14 games.[3][8] In 1997, Alexander played in 13 games, starting eleven of them, and he collected 52 tackles. He spent two more seasons with the Colts, collecting 52 and 51 tackles, respectively. In his last two seasons, 2000 and 2001, Alexander started 29 games for the Oakland Raiders and registered a total of 90 tackles for the team.[3]
Illness and death
Alexander was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer, in 2005. He had few symptoms, except for persistent pain in his feet, before his diagnosis. The disease was discovered after Alexander had bloodwork in Costa Rica while on a golfing vacation. He underwent chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. At one point, he lost nearly 60 pounds.[9] He died at Medical City Hospital in Dallas on March 24, 2010.[10]
References
- ^ "NFL Wife Continues Husbands Legacy - Kim Alexander". proplayerinsiders.com. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
- ^ http://www.TMF58.com Archived 2009-12-07 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f "Elijah Alexander". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
- Dallas Morning News. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
- Topeka Capital-Journal. March 25, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
- ^ "1992 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
- ^ "NFL Transactions". The Baltimore Sun. September 1, 1993. Archived from the original on July 24, 2015. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
- ^ "NFL Notes". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on April 19, 2003. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
- ^ Janssen, Mark (October 17, 2010). "K-State was Alexander's passion". Kansas State Athletics. Archived from the original on February 15, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
- Huffington Post. Retrieved August 8, 2014.