Former journeyman NFL quarterback Erik Kramer suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound in a possible suicide attempt at a Southern California motel, law enforcement sources and his former wife told NBC News.
Deputies responded at about 8 p.m. Tuesday to the Goodnite Inn in the 26500 block of Agoura Road in Calabasas to check a man's welfare and found the victim, who was airlifted to a hospital, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Kramer's former wife, Marshawn Kramer, told NBC News Wednesday night that the gunshot wound resulted from a suicide attempt. Kramer, 50, suffered years of depression that she believes was the result of his time in the NFL, she said.
The possible long-term health effects of concussions sustained by NFL player has been the subject of debate and a class-action lawsuit involving retired NFL players. Former players Junior Seau and Dave Duerson were posthumously diagnosed with a brain condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy after their suicides.
"He is a very amazing man, a beautiful soul, but he has suffered depression since he was with the Bears," Marshawn Kramer said in a telephone interview with NBC News. "I can promise you he is not the same man I married."
The NFL and the NFL Players Association did not immediately return emails from NBC News seeking comment.
Details regarding Kramer's condition were not immediately available.
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Kramer, born in Encino, attended John Burroughs High School in Burbank before playing at North Carolina State. He led the Detroit Lions to the 1991 NFC Championship Game before going on to play with the Chicago Bears and San Diego Chargers.
Kramer's 18-year-old son Griffen, a quarterback at Thousand Oaks High School, died of a heroin overdose in 2011.
