Hoffpauir had stage II the same level found in the brain of Junior Seau after the NFL Hall of Famer took his own life, at the age of 43, with a gunshot to the chest. Surviving the attempt led Zach to realize he needed help. Zach also started coaching back at Centennial High. When, how and why music should be incorporated into a funeral service, How to create a personal tribute to the life of your loved one, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, J.P. Richardson "The Big Bopper" and Roger Peterson, Making the holiday season bearable during grief. Hoffpauir's parents, Doug and Shannon, were recognized Like a modern-day Jim Thorpe or local Bo Jackson, Hoffpauir refused to stick to one sport: After graduating from Centennial High School, he excelled in baseball and football at Stanford University. At times, you just didnt know what you could do to help him. But as he played through those first three years, he began to feel the effects of playing two sports at an elite collegiate level, while also meeting the academic standards of a college like Stanford. Former Stanford multi-sport athlete Hoffpauir, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Bay Area weather: After thunderstorms and hail, snow could be on the way this weekend, Former Stanford multi-sport athlete Hoffpauir died of accidental overdose, autopsy shows: report, UCLA stuns Stanford women in Pac-12 tournament semifinals, Brink, Jump lead No. msn back to msn home sports Skip To Navigation He was at the same time: the big brother you always wanted, the life coach you never knew you needed and the friend you knew would always have your back.. My family wanted answers to help us process the loss of Zach, said Doug. Photos courtesy Stanford University. You are just minutes from Greenwood & Myers Mortuary is the first choice for many families when they are seeking funeral services in Boulder. Zachs physical and mental health were failing him. And we connect in weaknesses.. A 30-minute documentary on former Centennial football star Zach Hoffpauir, who died last year, will air Monday on Sports360az.com. Zachs loved ones will remember his athletic accomplishments, but more than that, theyll remember his gentle spirit that gave love to anyone who would accept it. Brad Cesmat, founder and CEO of Sports360AZ.com, said that he first approached Shannon and Doug about doing a documentary on their son in mid-May. To mourn his loss, Huffy leaves behind his loving wife, Janice Smith Hoffpauir; his daughters, Janna Perret (Steve), Jodi Hoffpauir (John Rahaim), and Jeana Anderson (Chris); his grandchildren, Sara, Garrett . Following tragedies, Central High School finds comfort in its football community. Zach knew something was wrong. Zach Hoffpauir, a two-sport standout at Stanford who earned All-Pac 12 honors as a safety in football and played two seasons in the Arizona Diamondbacks' minor league system, has died at age 26. At Stanford, his three-year totals were 11 homers, 58 RBIs and a career .295 batting average. He was in the middle of everything, from his dance moves to his football hits, to his baseball home runs, to his transparency and resiliency and leading the room. I got to know him after the freshmen football season was over, cause he also started on the varsity basketball team at point guard as a freshman. Mike Nowels is an assistant sports editor for The Mercury News and East Bay Times. He taught me how to enjoy life. It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Hope Hoffpauir (Crowley, Louisiana), who passed away on January 6, 2019, at the age of 61, leaving to mourn family and friends. Zach was 26 years old. He was the uniter in his family and in his locker rooms. If it was not for his close friend and former football teammate at Stanford, Christian McCaffery, Zach may have never learned the real source for all of his mental health issues. Medical examiners will perform an autopsy on his body, and the family donated his brain to Boston University for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) research. Coincidence? Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. The family does not expect results from the local autopsy for two or three months and the CTE study will likely take a year or more. He was recently hired as an assistant coach for Northern Colorado as his minor league baseball career was officially . (Courtesy of the Hoffpauir family), Zach Hoffpauir, right, takes a photo with his family, including his step brothers and step mother. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Former Stanford safety Zach Hoffpauir's brain is being donated to Boston University. All rights reserved. May 21, 2020. Everything he wanted to accomplish, he did.. Hoffpauir left Stanford in 2015 after being taken by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 22nd round of the MLB draft and played a minor league season that summer. His athletic talent and intense loyalty were both on display in a chippy series against rival Cal in April 2015. Hoffpauir was known as a hard hitter and suffered at least five documented concussions before medically retiring from football in 2016. It was the first time in a long time that he felt purpose. Shannon doesn't want her son's death to go in vain as just another sad statistic. Today at No. After his suicide attempt, Zach began practicing gratitude in a more intentional way. According to Dr. Ann McKee, a professor of neurology at Boston University, which works with the Concussion Legacy Foundation, the examination of Hoffpauirs brain revealed a startling level of CTE. I just dont have the words to express the loss. I dont want people to think, This could happen to your kid. I mean, it could happen. But he never did it from a place of superiority. We were celebrating his accomplishments not knowing that it caused a lot of pressure for him to perform.. Sometimes he had so much love for other people, said Christian McCaffery, Zachs Stanford football teammate at the celebration of life. (Photo by Mary Grace Grabill/Cronkite News). When Zach took that step up from high school athletics to college athletics, Zach began to feel as if he was losing his passion for the game, his father said. What will the Buffalo Bills do without defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier? "To a point it was exhausting talking to him. I would tell him to breathe deep with Jesus and I would see him soon.. Last Thursday morning, Zach Hoffpauir passed away at the age of 26. He began writing whenever he felt anxious, listing whatever he felt grateful for in that moment to ground him. MIAMI William Henry Trotter Bush, a wealthy investor and the brother and uncle of presidents, has died. But as much of a light as he was for others, Zach Hoffpauir struggled to find his way out of his own darkness. The doctors said he was just vulnerable, Doug Hoffpauir said. Despite being an athletic supernova, Zach remained remarkably humble. Doug Hoffpauir wants the world to know that even now, 15 months later, with the CTE diagnosis confirmed, he isnt mad. Once again, the sleepless nights began. Northern Colorado assistant coach Zach Hoffpauir has died, the program has announced. Itll be hard, but his life on Earth wasnt easy, either, and he did more good for others than many ever will. Grabill has interned as a photographer with McGaw YMCA Camp Echo and Phoenix Magazine. "It's humbling to have been trusted by his family to share his story with those who never got to know the real Zach Hoffpauir.". He made us all proud all the time. Theres no way to specify when the disease started. So much so, that he decided to pack up his bags and head back to Stanford to complete his senior year and have one more run with Stanford. But this time, Zach entered a deep funk. The brain disease is linked to repeated head trauma in football. Doug Hoffpauir said in the days after his sons death that he was certain Zach did not die by suicide. He was a walking example of how to care for people, a rare soul.. James "Huffy" Hoffpauir passed away suddenly on July 14, 2022, due to heart failure. He was 26. I could only speculate that started four or five years earlier.. Hoffpauir was 26 when he died this spring, just months after being named a defensive backs coach at Northern Colorado under new hire Ed McCaffrey, the father of former Cardinal teammate and close friend Christian McCaffrey, who now plays for the NFLs Carolina Panthers. Hoffpauir and McCaffrey were teammates at Stanford. Several themes emerged from their tearful tributes. Sympathy Ideas. He couldnt fight this alone. He was a young, intelligent coach with limitless potential.. New UNC head football coach Ed McCaffrey hired Zach in February to coach safeties. Watch over us. (Photo by Mary Grace Grabill/Cronkite News). The Mystic Krewe of Apollo Baton Rouge celebrated its 41st annual ball Jan. 21 at the Raising Cane's River Center. On top of the depression and anxiety, he was diagnosed with Lyme Disease in 2019, which weakened his immune system. He persisted and persevered.. The medical examiner's report is not yet complete and does not yet list a cause of death. This fentanyl crap is everywhere, Doug Hoffpauir said. Zach had previously detailed some of his experiences with depression, which can be a symptom of chronic traumatic encephalopathy the degenerative brain disease linked to head trauma in football and other sports. Jaguars won't spend big, but here are five players they could target in free agency, The most memorable pre-NFL draft workouts ever: Coaches, scouts, execs make their picks, 2023 NFL franchise tag tracker: Raiders tag Josh Jacobs, the NFL's rushing leader. He was a natural at just about any sport he played.. One night of sleep was all he wanted. Mary Grace Grabill expects to graduate in May 2023 with a bachelors degree in journalism and a minor in film production. But Hoffpauirs brain was not like that of a normal 20-something. I am devastated by the loss of Zach Hoffpauir, a friend to me and my family since his playing days with my son Christian at Stanford. In a September 2019 interview on Untold, a podcast hosted by fellow former Pac-12 safety Jordan Simone, Zach estimated he had five or six on the record concussions, and that at least two of them came in the 2016 season. 1 team. He had depression, anxiety and insomnia. (He) loved his family so much and would do anything for the people he cared about. The father said at the time that the Hoffpauir family had donated Zachs brain to concussion research. (Courtesy of the Hoffpauir family), Zach Hoffpauir wears sunglasses and a lei at his graduation from Stanford. Now all of a sudden, sports became a business, Doug said in the Sports360AZ documentary. Family and friends are welcome to send flowers or leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family. Joyec Ann Hoffpauir Obituary. Doug Hoffpauir said the opportunity provided a new spark in Zachs life and thanked McCaffrey for taking a chance on his son. The father of Zach Hoffpauir, the former Stanford football player who died last week at the age of 26, said the family has donated Hoffpauir's brain to concussion research. Hoffpauir passed away on May 14, 2020, and was honored Friday by his alma mater during its game against Hamilton. He goes I would love to go fishing with you and papa but I have too many video things going on today with school. So the last thing we talked about I just said, Zach I love you, and he goes Yeah, I love you, too.. McCaffrey, 23, on Friday posted a picture of Hoffpauir on Instagram with the message, "Yesterday, Heaven gained an angel, and I lost one of my best friends in the world. , A post shared by Christian McCaffrey (@christianmccaffrey) on May 15, 2020 at 8:07am PDT. College Sports | According to his mother, he took a Percocet to help him fall asleep and did not know the pill was laced with fentanyl. They played football together at Stanford. Zach moved in with Doug during this time. He was the friend who picked up the phone. Add a Memory. Zach even joined his mother for a Mothers Day sermon last year when he shared about his mental health. To the casual onlooker, it would have seemed Zach had life all figured out. He always said hashtag CTE.. He could walk into a room and light up the room., Matt Rodriguez, another teammate, said, He made plays, he was always talking, he was always clowning, roasting everybody, no one talked trash better, no one was more confident than Zach. 31 jersey retired this month. He made 137 more in high school and was in on hundreds of others playing running back and wide receiver. "It was riddled with CTE lesions.". Zach knew something was wrong. Zach Hoffpauir, a two-sport standout at Stanford who earned All-Pac 12 honours as a safety in football and played two seasons in the Arizona Diamondbacks minor league system, has died at age 26. McCaffrey shared similar sentiments, noting Zachs unique passion for leading the players and honesty about his own experiences. I mightve just fallen on my knees and cried, Doug Hoffpauir said, holding back tears. Hoffpauir was a two-sport athlete at Stanford: a defensive back who was named honorable-mention all-conference and an outfielder selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 22nd round of the 2015 MLB draft. Zach's family . Hoffpauir played safety and McCaffrey was a running back. The medical examiners report cited fentanyl toxicity as Hoffpauirs cause of death, according to the KPNX report, noting that it was ruled an accident. Submit your request today and a dedicated member of the Concussion Legacy Foundation team will be happy to assist you. C hristian McCaffrey posted a photo of Hoffpauir on his Instagram account Friday which began, Yesterday Heaven gained an angel, and I lost one of my best friends in the world. He called Hoffpauir a true friend and great brother to anyone he knew. I would hope that seeing (Zachs) number, sharing those stories, keeping a record here on campus allows us the opportunity to not forget, said Adam Larsen, the athletic director at Centennial. He enjoyed horseback riding, fly fishing and vacationing with his family in Mexico, listening to the same music and breathing the same air, his dad said. 31, now painted in the team's red and white above the 31-yard line, that will forever represent everything they believed their son, Zach, valued. A year ago, the college sports world was stunned after former Stanford defensive back Zach Hoffpauir died suddenly at the young age of 26. Peter Jelovic, Centennial Highs athletic director, said the school was not yet planning a memorial. Low 42F. He made me better.. He was like a brother to our boys and recently found his calling as our safeties coach https://t.co/eNYbQB30fv. Hoffpauir's father, Doug Hoffpauir, confirmed his death to The Arizona Republic. No matter where they came from, no matter their circumstances.. Hoffpauir was 26 at the time of his passing this past spring, just a few . Stanford safety Zach Hoffpauir (10) had 99 tackles in his Stanford career. The head coach was Ed McCaffrey, the father of former Stanford star Christian McCaffrey one of Hoffpauirs best friends. David Fernandez, Centennial High Schools school resource officer from the Peoria Police Department, tweeted a fond memory: A few years ago, Zach Hoffpauir was back at Centennial mentoringI was standing nearby watching when a young student walked up and said, Hey, whos that?, I replied, Thats who you want to grow up to be.. Zach Hoffpauir was a multi-sport athlete at Centennial High School in Peoria, Arizona before becoming an all-conference defensive back and outfielder for Stanford University. While his mental state never got down to where it was before, it was enough to keep him up night after night. Hoffpauir was 26 years old. We always talked about living simply when we got older: Hunting, fishing, riding bulls, RVing across the country with @beaukitson (One day we'll do that). He had to medically retire due to concussions prior to Stanfords bowl game in 2016. As he did with all things, Zach put his all into every hit.