Christopher Eddie Mims (September 29, 1970 – October 15, 2008) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. He was drafted by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

in the first round (23rd overall) 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 Mar ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

. He also spent one season with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. He retired in 2000 after being released by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

in training camp that same year.

Early years

Mims attended Susan Miller Dorsey High School in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

, he set the school single season records for sacks and tackles. However, he failed to meet the academic qualifications to attended an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

university. Therefore, he chose to attend

Los Angeles Pierce College Los Angeles Pierce College (Pierce College or Pierce) is a public community college in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Los Angeles Community College District and is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and C ...

, then Los Angeles Southwest Junior College. After earning better grades, he was recruited by assistant coach

A. J. Christoff Andrew James Christoff (born c. 1945) is an American football coach. He was defensive coordinator for 18 seasons at six schools—Idaho, Oregon, Stanford, Notre Dame, Colorado and Cincinnati. From Ritzville, Washington, Christoff graduated from ...

to the

where he spent two seasons. While at Tennessee, he recorded 90 tackles and 9.5 sacks. In the October 18, 2010, issue of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'', former NFL agent Josh Luchs alleged that he paid Mims 'about $500 a month' during his last year at the University of Tennessee.

Professional career

Mims was selected in the first round (23rd overall) of the

. As a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

, he appeared in 16 games with four starts. During his rookie season, he recorded 53 tackles, 10 sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery as well as recording a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

. In

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, he appeared in 16 games with seven starts. He recorded 32 tackles, seven sacks, two forced fumbles. For the 1994 season, he started all 16 games. He recorded 35 tackles (28 solo.), 11 sacks, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. In

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, he started all 15 games he appeared in. He recorded 28 tackles (24 solo.), two sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. For

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, he start all 15 games he appeared in. He recorded 20 tackles (12 solo.), six sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. After spending five seasons with the Chargers, Mims signed as an unrestricted free agent with the

on June 10, 1997. In

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, his lone season with the Redskins, he appeared in 11 games with seven starts. For the season, he recorded 16 tackles (10 solo.), four sacks and one forced fumble. One year, to the day after signing with the Redskins, Mims re-signed with the Chargers to a one-year contract. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, after returning to the Chargers, he appeared in six games. For the season, he recorded three tackles, and two sacks. On February 8, 1999, he re-signed with the Chargers on a two-year contract. For

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, he appeared in nine games. For the season, he recorded five tackles (four solo.). He was released on October 9, and re-signed on October 16. He was released again, for the final time by the Chargers on December 3, 1999. On February 15, 2000, Mims was signed by the

. He was released on August 22, 2000, after missing a practice because he overslept.

Career statistics

Later years and death

Mims was the sixth member of the 1994 San Diego Chargers AFC championship team to die young, the others being David Griggs,

Rodney Culver Rodney Dwayne Culver (December 23, 1969May 11, 1996) was an American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. During this time, he played for the Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers. Over th ...

, Doug Miller, Junior Seau, and

Curtis Whitley Curtis Wayne Whitley (May 10, 1969 – May 11, 2008) was an American professional American football, football player who was a center (American football), center in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Clemson T ...

. During his final years, Mims was unable to take care of himself and he lived on disability payments and avoided bill collectors. On October 15, 2008, Mims was found dead in his Los Angeles apartment by police officers conducting a

welfare check Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

. The cause of death was determined to be an

enlarged heart Cardiomegaly (sometimes megacardia or megalocardia) is a medical condition in which the heart is enlarged. As such, it is more commonly referred to simply as "having an enlarged heart". It is usually the result of underlying conditions that make t ...

. He weighed at the time of his death. A few years prior to his death, he had suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

Personal life

Mims had one son, Christopher Eddie Mims, Jr.

Legal troubles

During his playing career, Mims had numerous legal troubles. Among them were charges of

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The term f ...

, and

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

. He was taken to court more than 20 times for unpaid bills in

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

. He is reported to have defaulted on a $243,750 house loan during the Chargers'

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

season. He neglected bills for his Mercedes-Benz 600 SEL, attorneys' fees, carpet bills,

liquor Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or hard ...

bills and, at times,

child support Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is paid d ...

. In 1995, he was cited by a

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

judge for not making monthly payments of $5,000 to a man whose windshield he smashed in a traffic dispute. In 1998, he was convicted of refusing to take a blood-alcohol test after being pulled over on suspicion of

driving drunk Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is invo ...

. In 1999, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge after he hit a man with a belt outside a Del Taco.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mims, Chris 1970 births 2008 deaths American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles Players of American football from Los Angeles San Diego Chargers players Tennessee Volunteers football players Washington Redskins players Susan Miller Dorsey High School alumni Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) American people convicted of assault