LOS ANGELES — Former NFL defensive lineman Al Lucas died Sunday from a presumed spinal cord injury sustained while trying to make a tackle for the Los Angeles Avengers during an Arena Football League game, the team said.
Lucas was pronounced dead at California Hospital after all attempts to revive him were unsuccessful, team physician Dr. Luga Podesta said in a statement.
A call to a hospital spokesman was not returned.
"It is with great sadness that we confirm the passing of Al Lucas. At this time, the thoughts and prayers of the entire Avenger organization are with his wife and family," team owner and chief executive officer Casey Wasserman said in a statement.
The 26-year-old Lucas was injured during a first-quarter kickoff return against the New York Dragons.
Television replays showed Lucas bending down to make a tackle. As the Dragons' ball carrier and a blocker tumbled over his head and back, the blocker's leg appeared to hit Lucas in the head. Lucas did not move after falling to the ground.
The game continued after he was taken from the field.
"There's nothing you can say about what happened," Avengers lineman Sean McNamara told the Los Angeles Daily News. "(Death) never entered our minds as a possibility. You think about his family and his daughter and hope they'll be all right."
"When you've got a player lying on the ground the only thing that goes through your mind is that it could be any of us out there," fullback Lonnie Ford told the paper.
The 6-foot-1, 300-pound lineman played two seasons (2000-01) for the Carolina Panthers, recording 49 1/2 tackles in 20 games. He attended Troy State from 1996-99 and was named the top defensive player in Division I-AA his senior season.
"Al Lucas played arena football with passion and integrity. The entire AFL family extends its deepest sympathies to Al's wife and family as well as his friends, family and teammates," commissioner David Baker said in a statement.
Lucas, of Macon, Ga., was married to De'Shonda Lucas and had a daughter, Mariah.
Several football players have died in the last 40 years following injuries incurred on the field. Most recently, University of Washington defensive back Curtis Williams died of complications from paralysis in May 2002 following a helmet-to-helmet hit during a game against Stanford nearly two years earlier.