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]
| No. 59, 58, 50 | |||||||||||
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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 | |||||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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Early life
editAlexander was born in Fort Worth, Texas on August 2, 1970 and later attended Dunbar High School. He played college football for Kansas State University.[3] In his freshman season, the team finished with an 0-11 win–loss record. When he was a senior, the 1988 team won seven games, the school's most victories in a season since 1954.[4] He registered 234 career tackles at Kansas State and appeared in the Senior Bowl in 1991.[5]
NFL career
editThe Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Alexander in the tenth round of the 1992 NFL draft.[6] He appeared in 12 games for the team that season.[3] In 1993, the Denver Broncos claimed Alexander off of waivers from Tampa Bay.[7] Alexander did not start in 1993, but he appeared in 16 games.[3]
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
editAlexander 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
edit- ^ "NFL Wife Continues Husbands Legacy - Kim Alexander". proplayerinsiders.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2016. Retrieved June 2, 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.
- ^ Miller, Jeff (December 31, 2010). "Lone Star salutes to sports figures with Texas ties who died in 2010". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
- ^ "KSU, NFL LB Alexander dies". Topeka Capital-Journal. March 25, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
- ^ "1992 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Elijah Alexander dead: Ex-Raider dies at 39". Huffington Post. Retrieved August 8, 2014.