Former Ravens rookie prospect and Iraq War veteran **Tony Fein** died Tuesday in Port Orchard, Wash., in an apparent suicide, according to the Carroll County Times.
An official cause of death has not been determined by a coroner, but Fein's Baltimore attorney, Warren A. Brown, said "I've been told that it was a suicide. It's very sad."
Fein, 27, was found collapsed, unconscious and vomiting at a friend's house. He was attended to by medics in Kitsap County in his home state just before 9 a.m. PDT on Tuesday, according to Mike Wernet, an officer with South Kitsap Fire & Rescue, via The Associated Press.
According to the report, the medics took Fein to the Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton, Wash., and the linebacker went into cardiac arrest on the drive there. Wernet told The Associated Press that Fein was pronounced dead at 9:48 a.m.
That report stated the cause of death was not certain, but officials are performing an autopsy and toxicology report. There was no evidence of criminal activity.
Fein, 6-foot-2, 245 pounds, earned the attention of Ravens coaches with his work ethic and hard-nosed demeanor.
The University of Mississippi alumnus went undrafted but impressed at the school's Pro Day. At Ole Miss, he totaled 136 tackles in 24 games after joining the team as a highly-touted junior college talent.
Following a standout career as a quarterback and linebacker in high school, Fein spent three and a half years in the U.S. Army, where he served in Iraq. Fein was reluctant to talk about his time overseas, but did reveal that he was a reconnaissance scout, which work on the front lines.
Ravens head coach **John Harbaugh** addressed the team Wednesday morning regarding Fein's death.
"We talked about that, obviously, with our team this morning and [we are] just shocked and saddened," said Harbaugh. "Tony Fein was a really good teammate. [You remember] what he did in Iraq.
"He's a tremendous American, a tremendous young man, he's a Raven to us [and] always will be and just a really good person. We were proud to have him here as a part of our team. Just unbelievably disappointed about the news, and we're waiting to hear further details."
Fein, 27, was embroiled in a controversial matter in Baltimore's Inner Harbor in August, where he was charged with misdemeanor assault of a police officer while dining at a restaurant with friends.
The group was passing around a large, silver cellular phone, but employees at the restaurant suspected it to be a handgun after a recent spate of violence in the area and called the authorities. According to the police report, when Fein was confronted and refused to stand up, he shoved an officer in the chest and was arrested.
Fein's agent made headlines when he called the event racial profiling. Fein was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday morning, but the case was slated to be dismissed because of conflicting witness statements.
Fein's attorney was informed last week that the matter would be dropped.
"We talked about this before with Tony when he went through what he went through this summer, and we found out just a couple of days ago he was going to be vindicated on that," Harbaugh said. "It speaks back to his character again."
Teammates recalled a player that was upbeat and liked to have fun on the football field
"He was a great guy and always had a smile on his face," said rookie Michael Oher, who played with Fein at the University of Mississippi. "He loved the game of football. I shared victories with him, so it was heartbreaking to hear."
Even though he only knew Fein for a few weeks, fellow linebacker Ray Lewis agreed with Oher.
"For the brief time that we were around him he was a humble young man, always searching for some type of direction," Lewis explained. "It's really sad. My heart definitely goes out to his family and friends because it's such a tragic death for someone to be that young and go through the things he's been through."
