Ex-Lions QB Erik Kramer Found with Gunshot Wound in L.A. Motel: NBC

Former Detroit Lions quarterback Erik Kramer shot himself Tuesday in an apparent attempt to take his own life in a California motel, law enforcement sources told NBC News on Wednesday.

L.A. County sheriff’s deputies arrived at a Calabasas motel around 8 p.m. and found a man with gunshot wound. They identified the man as Kramer, 50, and said the wound was not life threatening, the sources told NBC.

He began his NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons, and played for the Detroit Lions from 1991 to 1993, leading the team to the NFC Championship game in 1991. Kramer played quarterback for the Chicago Bears for five seasons, from 1994 to 1998. He played one year for the San Diego Chargers before retiring.

Reports NBC Sports:

His former wife believes Kramer is suffering from depression in part as a result of head injuries suffered during his football career.

“He is a very amazing man, a beautiful soul, but he has suffered depression since he was with the Bears,” Marshawn Kramer told NBC News. “I can promise you he is not the same man I married.”

In 2011, Kramer’s 18-year-old son, Griffen, a high school quarterback, died of a heroin overdose in the Los Angeles area. A friend left him alone to go to a party after he had passed out while on drugs. He died on Oct. 31, 2011.