Gaines Adams (99) chases Cincinnati quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan (4) in an October game. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
By Brad Biggs and Vaughn McClure
Bears defensive end Gaines Adams has died, the Greenville (S.C.) News has reported.
The 26-year-old was reportedly taken to the emergency room at Self Regional Healthcare in Greenwood County where he died, County Coroner James T. Coursey told the Greenville News.
ESPN.com is reporting that a preliminary autopsy indicates that Adams died of cardiac arrest caused by an enlarged heart.
"It's crazy," Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher said. "I didn't know him that well because he came in during the middle of the season. But I did know him. I still saw him every day when I went into work. It's just weird.
"I had a teammate die when I was in college. You just don't know how to handle it. It's just sad, man. It's a bad deal."
Adams, a star at Clemson, was the fourth pick in the 2007 draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bears traded a second-round draft pick for him in October, intent on rebuilding their pass rush around him.
An autopsy will be performed later today by a forensic pathologist in Anderson County, Coursey told the Greenville News.
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