Shane Olivea, a former offensive striker for Chargers and Ohio, has died, the Chargers press release said Thursday. He was 40 years old.
Olivea played for the Buckeyes between 2000 and 2003, including in the national team championship in 2002. He was selected by the Chargers in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft and became a central figure in the attack. In the four seasons in which he played in the league, he started all matches of the regular season except seven.
After his fourth season with the Chargers, Olivea was removed from the team after entering the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California. He spent 89 days in rehab to fight opioid addiction, which he developed during his new season.
Shane Olivea died at the age of 40. Getty Images
Olivea spent four seasons with the then San Diego Chargers. Peter Bruye
In 2016, Olivea told Columbus Dispatch that he was taking 125 Vicodin pills a day during the peak of his addiction. His doctors call it a “walking miracle” of survival after taking so many pills every day.
“There wasn’t a day in the NFL that I didn’t take a pill after a rookie year,” Olivea said.
After his time with the Chargers, the offensive game was not played again in the NFL. Olivia later played for the Florida Tuskers and the Virginia Destroyers of the United States Football League in the 2010 and 2011 seasons, respectively.
After the end of his football career, Olivea returned to Ohio to complete his bachelor’s degree. Donald Mirale
Eleven years after leaving to pursue her NFL dream, Olivia returned to Ohio to complete her bachelor’s degree. He graduated in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in the sports industry.
“I looked at it three times,” Olivea said, according to Columbus Dispatch. “I never thought I would ever see a college diploma in my name.
The cause of his death was not released on Friday morning.