Former Judson, UT star’s death stuns ex-teammates

Former Judson and Texas running back Chris Samuels was found dead Friday at his home in a neighborhood near Alamo Heights. Samuels was 52.

Officers investigated it as a sudden death after they were called to 421 Rittiman Rd. just after 6 a.m., according to a San Antonio Police report. When they arrived, police found Samuels on the floor in a bathroom with an apparent gunshot wound to his chest.

A woman inside the home told police she heard one shot before entering the bathroom and finding Samuels on the floor.

EMS declared Samuels dead at 6:37 a.m., according to the police report. As of late Saturday afternoon, the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s office had not issued a ruling on Samuel’s death.

An employee at the medical examiner’s office said it could not release any information regarding the death.

After graduating from Judson in the mid-1980s, Samuels accepted a scholarship to play football at UT, where he was joined by fellow San Antonio high school stars Johnny Walker and twin brothers Keith Cash and Kerry Cash from 1987-90. Samuels played in 43 games for the Longhorns, rushing for more than 1,000 yards.

The San Diego Chargers selected Samuels in the 12th round of the NFL draft 1991. He appeared in three games that season before his football career came to an end.

After his brief stint in the NFL, he attended the Texas Tech University Health Science Center in Midland, where he graduated from with a physician assistant license in 2009. Most recently, Samuels was working at a local hospital, Walker said.

Walker said news of Samuels’ death spread quickly Friday morning among stunned former teammates who considered him “like a brother.”

“If there was a problem in his life, you never would have known it,” Walker said. “That’s the kind of personality he had. He loved life.”

When Walker’s mother, Dorsena Hayden, was hospitalized, Samuels made a point to check in.

“He went out of his way to see her, to talk with her, to look at her chart,” Walker said. “He enjoyed helping people.”