Local football hero dies

"Warrior fullback Chuck Lincoln played with the weight of his team on his shoulders for much of this season, and for that he should be commended. But for the way he played with the weight in his heart, he is nothing short of a hero."

So began a Frontiersman column in the fall of 1999, after the Wasilla High School senior had excelled on the football field in a contest with Service High School. Lincoln was considered by many involved in Valley sports to be the best football player they ever watched carry the ball.

Lincoln died of alcohol consumption Tuesday at a friend's Palmer home, according to Alaska State Troopers. At 20 years of age, he had already accomplished more than many football players ever dreamed.

In 1999 he had been named All-Conference Fullback, All State Fullback, Offensive Player of the Year and Gatorade Player of the Year. The weight in his heart as he played to perfection that fall stemmed from knowing his mother, Debbie, had terminal cancer. She would die four weeks after his championship game. While she lived, family members said, football formed a focal point for all of them.

At one football game that memorable October, Lincoln had promised his mother he would score three touchdowns. After scoring two touchdowns and putting his team up by 40 points, Lincoln got to rest during the fourth quarter as the second-stringers took to the field. He was called back into the game later, and scored his third touchdown.

Coach Nathan Ford took the ball from the referees that night and gave it to Lincoln. While the game was still going, Lincoln ran out to the parking lot where his mother watched from a vehicle and handed her the ball.

"It was the most emotional moment I've ever witnessed at an athletic event," a sports columnist wrote at the time.

He rushed for nearly 2,000 yards that season and led the Warriors to the state championship game.

Tom Lincoln said his brother continued to do well when he moved on to college on a scholarship to the University of Minnesota-Crookston. His freshman year he was redshirted due to SAT scores, but in his sophomore year he played.

"Out of 10 games, he scored seven touchdowns," said Tom Lincoln, who at 27 is head coach at Colony High School. "He came home in January and went to work on the North Slope, but he had talked about returning to the university in the fall."

A memorial service will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Assembly of God Church on Knik-Goose Bay Road. Memorial donations may be made to the First National Bank of Alaska, 100720 Anchorage, 99510, account number 70148044.