SALEM, Ore. — A Lima native and former NFL lineman who committed suicide in a national wildlife refuge in Oregon was facing sex abuse charges.
Court records obtained by The Associated Press show 66-year-old Michael Wayne Current was scheduled to enter a plea Tuesday in Marion County Circuit Court in Salem, Ore.
Current was born in Lima and played college football at The Ohio State University. He lived in Las Vegas.
He had been indicted in November on five counts of first-degree sexual abuse, and one count of luring a minor. The charges stemmed from 2004 and 2008 in Silverton, Ore.
Current was found dead Monday at a viewing area at the Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, about 10 miles west of Salem, Ore.
Polk County sheriff’s deputies say he shot himself in the head with a 20-gauge shotgun that was not his. He had gotten a ride to the viewing area and was wearing sweats and a blanket.
Current, 66, spent 13 seasons in the NFL. He was drafted in the 3rd round of the 1967 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Miami Dolphins, starting 164 of the 169 games in which he played.His memoir is called “Rememberin' Life in the Trenches.”
