LOS ANGELES — Autopsy results on an Arena Football League player who died during a game have been delayed while brain tissue tests are conducted.
Coroner's office spokesman Craig Harvey said Tuesday that the cause of death will not be finalized until the tests are complete. The Los Angeles Avengers said lineman Al Lucas died of a "presumed spinal cord injury."
Lucas, 26, didn't get up after a tackle during a first-quarter kickoff return in Sunday's game against the New York Dragons. He was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later.
The 6-foot-1, 300-pound Lucas, a native of Macon, Ga., played for the Carolina Panthers in 2000-01, recording 49 1/2 tackles in 20 games.
Lucas joined the AFL's Tampa Bay Storm in 2003. He joined the Avengers last year and was under contract through the 2006 season.
He and his wife, De'Shonda, had a 1-year-old daughter, Mariah.