SAN DIEGO – Shane Olivea, the former San Diego Chargers lineman who blocked for LaDainian Tomlinson in the most productive years of the running back’s Hall of Fame career, has died, the team announced Thursday. He was 40.
A seventh-round pick by the Chargers in 2004, Olivea started 57 games of the team’s 60 games played between 2004-07. He played college football under Jim Tressel at Ohio State University and was a member of the school’s 2002 national championship squad. His cause of death was not immediately disclosed.
Olivea returned to Ohio State to finish his degree, which he did in 2016, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
He told Dispatch reporter Bill Rabinowitz that his NFL career ultimately fell apart due to a painkiller addiction, remarking, “There wasn’t one day in the NFL I wasn’t high on a pill after my rookie year.” The addiction later ended up in a nearly three-month stay in the Betty Ford Center, according to the Dispatch.
Olivea was released by the Chargers in 2008 and attempted to resume his career with the New York Giants, but he never returned to the field in the NFL. He had later stints with the Florida Tuskers and the Virginia Destroyers of the now-defunct United Football League.
In a release, the Chargers called Olivea “an integral part” of the team’s offensive line that helped Tomlinson break the NFL’s single-season touchdown record in 2006.
On Twitter, retired NFL linebacker and Olivea’s former Ohio State teammate Bobby Carpenter said that he awoke “to the sobering news that @OhioStateFb lost a great one this morning.”
SAN DIEGO – NOVEMBER 7: Guard Shane Olivea #70 of the San Diego Chargers celebrates with tight end Antonio Gates #85 during the game against the New Orleans Saints on November 7, 2004 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. The Chargers defeated the Saints 43-17. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) 
SAN DIEGO – JANUARY 06: Tackle Shane Olivea #70 of the San Diego Chargers looks on from the corner of the end zone during warm-up prior to their AFC Wild Card Playoff Game against the Tennessee Titans at Qualcomm Stadium on January 6, 2008 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images) 
SAN DIEGO – AUGUST 26: Running back Michael Turner, #33 of the San Diego Chargers, is congratulated after scoring a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks by teammate Shane Olivea #70 during the first quarter on August 26, 2006 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images) 
SAN DIEGO – DECEMBER 31: San Diego Chargers players, including Cory Lekkerkerker #71, Shane Olivea #70 and Carlos Polk #52, walk on the field before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Qualcomm Stadium on December 31, 2006 in San Diego, California. The Chargers won 27-20. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) 
CINCINNATI – NOVEMBER 12: Philip Rivers #17 hugs Shane Olivea #70 of the San Diego Chargers following a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals November 12, 2006 at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) 
BALTIMORE, MD ? OCTOBER 1: Tackle Shane Olivea #76 of the San Diego Chargers walks on the field during the game against the Baltimore Ravens on October 1, 2006 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens won 16-13. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) 
HOUSTON – SEPTEMBER 12: (L-R) Nick Hardwick #61, Mike Goff #79, and Shane Olivea #70 of the San Diego Chargers sit on the bench during play against the Houston Texans on September 12, 2004 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The Chargers defeated the Texans 27-20. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
“More importantly, I’ll never forget the kindness he showed to a young freshman who was clueless and didn’t know anything about anything. #RIPShane #Thankyou,” Carpenter wrote in a tweet Thursday.
Another Buckeye teammate Rodney Bailey remarked that he’d had “many great battles in practice and the league with this man.”
“Class act,” Bailey wrote in a tweet. “We lost a good man. My condolences to the Olivea Family.”
Roman Oben, the NFL’s vice president of football development who played with Olivea in San Diego, wrote: “Very sad to hear the news of my former teammate Shane Olivea. Praying for his family today.”
