Elijah Alfred Alexander III (August 2, 1970 – March 24, 2010) was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

who played ten seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

and

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. In 2005 Alexander was diagnosed with

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibody, antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone ...

. 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).

Early life

Alexander was born in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

on August 2, 1970, and later attended Dunbar High School. He played college football for

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

. In his freshman season, the team finished with an 0–11

win–loss record Win–loss may refer to: * Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action * Win–loss record, also winning percentage * Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...

. When he was a senior, the 1988 team won seven games, the school's most victories in a season since 1954. He registered 234 career tackles at Kansas State and appeared in the

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

in 1991.

NFL career

The

selected Alexander in the tenth round of the

1992 NFL draft The 1992 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1992, at the Marriott M ...

. He appeared in 12 games for the team that season. In 1993, the

claimed Alexander off of waivers from Tampa Bay. Alexander did not start in 1993, but he appeared in 16 games. In 1994, Alexander started all 16 games and he registered a career-high 88 tackles and 24 assists. He played in only nine games in 1995 due to a shoulder injury. The next year with the

, he struggled with a hamstring injury at the beginning of the season but appeared in 14 games. 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

and registered a total of 90 tackles for the team.

Illness and death

Alexander was diagnosed with

, 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. He died at Medical City Hospital in Dallas on March 24, 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Elijah 1970 births 2010 deaths Players of American football from Fort Worth, Texas American football linebackers Deaths from cancer in Texas Deaths from multiple myeloma in the United States Denver Broncos players Indianapolis Colts players Kansas State Wildcats football players Oakland Raiders players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players