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Call reveals Tuinei was not breathing
Posted: Friday May 07, 1999 07:21 PM
PLANO, Texas (AP) -- Former Cowboys lineman Mark Tuinei was not breathing when he was discovered unconscious in his car, according to the 911 tape released Friday by Plano police. "He is not breathing?" the emergency-services dispatcher is heard asking the man who placed the call. "No, ah, he stopped breathing, I guess last night," the man answered. "I can't feel a pulse." Spokesman Carl Duke said police know the caller's identity but declined to name him. The man gave the name "Nicky" to the dispatcher. The Dallas Morning News reported that Tuinei was accompanied by Cowboys reserve fullback Nicky Sualua when he picked up his black, 1933 Ford roadster from a repair shop in nearby Carrollton on Wednesday. Tuinei was found unconscious in the roadster Thursday morning while the car was parked in a driveway alongside his Plano house. The newspaper said two police detectives left the Cowboys' headquarters in Irving on Thursday afternoon with Sualua crouched in the back seat. Sualua was unavailable for comment and did not respond to a message left at his home. A private memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at the Trinity Christian Academy in the Dallas suburb of Addison. Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple said the Tuinei family, including his wife, Ponolani, requested that only family and close friends attend. "On behalf of Mark and everyone in our family, I would like to express our sincere gratitude for the tremendous outpouring of love and warm wishes that we have received from around the world," Tuinei's wife said in a statement released Friday afternoon by the Cowboys. "Our pain and sorrow is softened by your spirit and your support. Mark was always very proud to be a Dallas Cowboy. He was also very appreciative of the support that he received from this community for 15 years. Our friends and Mark's fans are providing a tremendous outpouring of loving support to comfort us in this difficult time." Investigators on Friday were awaiting toxicology reports that they hope will pinpoint the cause of the 39-year-old's death. Jill Bridges of the Collin County medical examiner's office said Friday the coroner has completed tests on the body is now awaiting preliminary toxicology results early next week. Those results could indicate whether heart failure, drugs, alcohol or other factors were involved in the sudden death, she said. Duke declined to say who police were questioning, but he said investigators were checking reports that Tuinei had spent Wednesday night partying. "We're hearing a lot of speculation, a lot of rumors," Duke said. "We're still trying to get all the facts. We're not going to rush the investigation." Friday was a quiet day at the Cowboys' Irving headquarters, unlike Thursday, when veteran players showed up for voluntary practice. The workouts were scrubbed as word reached Valley Ranch of Tuinei's death. Tuinei had made plans to return to Hawaii, hoping to teach youngsters the same skills that helped him become a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Cowboys. A meeting with Kale Ane, the football coach at Punahou School in Honolulu, had been scheduled for Friday, and Ane was going to offer Tuinei a job as an assistant coach. Tuinei had told friends he was going to take it. "He was hoping to return to go back to school at the [University of Hawaii] and it looked like a good mix," said Ane, who in past years had worked several clinics in Hawaii with Tuinei. A Hawaiian prep star in football, basketball and the shot put, the 6-foot-5 Tuinei -- who reached 320 pounds as a pro -- played at UCLA for two years, then transferred to Hawaii. Suspended one year and injured the next at Hawaii, Tuinei wasn't drafted by the NFL. He was invited to the Cowboys' training camp as a free agent defensive lineman. Tuinei defied the odds and made the team and saw action in 10 games that year. Coaches later decided his future was on offense, where he became a full-time starter in 1987. Tuinei eventually settled in at left tackle, the most vital spot on the line because it protects the quarterback's blind side. Beginning in 1989, that quarterback was Aikman. A year later, Tuinei's duties included opening holes for running back Emmitt Smith. With Tuinei anchoring the line in front of Aikman and Smith, the Cowboys won Super Bowls in 1993, '94 and '96. Tuinei missed only nine games from 1989-96. Injuries eventually caught up to Tuinei, slowing him in 1997 and causing the team to release him in April 1998.
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