SAN ANTONIO, Tex. (UPI) -- Chuck Hughes, wide receiver of the Detroit Lions football team, was buried Wednesday amid the rolling green hills of the state where he grew up and the silver and blue of his professional "family."
Hughes, 28, died during the final minutes of Sunday's Detroit-Chicago football game of a heart attack.
The entire Lions team including six coaches and two team doctors stood in a semi circle behind three rows of chairs which held Hughes' immediate family and old friends.
Linebacker Tommy Nobis of the Atlanta Falcons was the only other professional football player who attended.
"I thought it would be the least we could do for Chuck and his family to have all his teammates at his graveside," said Lions head coach Joe Schmidt.
A two-foot high football helmet of flowers in the Lions' colors, Honolulu blue and silver, rested next to the grave while the Rev. Ronald Walker delivered the eulogy. Numerous other flowers with the colors stood near the gravesite.
Hughes, a Philadelphia native, grew up jn Abilene, Tex., and worked during the off-season in EI Paso, Tex. He attended the University of Texas at EI Paso.
The burial was held in Hughes' widow's hometown, San Antonio, at Sunset Memorial Park located on the little-used old Austin Highway at the northeast side of the city.
"At a time when we come together to say goodbye to someone we love, sadness and sorrow are very much a part of it. But we have God's promise that beyond the sorrow someday we will be back together," the Rev. Walker said.
When the services ended, the Rev. Walker picked a gold crucifix from the top of the steel gray casket and gave it to Hughes' widow, Sharon. She sat on the front row for several minutes, then stood and walked to the casket.
Very quietly, most of the 49 Lions spoke with her and embraced her.
First to her side were Steve Owens, a running back, quarterback Bill Munson and defensive back Lem Barney, walking on crutches. Owens and Munson had been pallbearers during a funeral service held Tuesday in Detroit.
About a half-hour later, the Lions returned to two buses to the San Antonio airport and returned by chartered jet to Detroit.
"Chuck was an extremely popular member of this team. He was a very instrumental part of the team, although he really didn't play that much," said Elliott Trumbull, assistant public relations director for the team, as he walked from the cemetery.
After the guests left the cemetery, the casket was lowered into the ground.
Hughes collapsed with only about a minute left in the game Sunday. He had replaced the injured Larry Walton, caught one pass and ran three more plays.
Trainers and doctors for both teams attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and cardiac massage, then Hughes was rushed to a hospital.
He was pronounced dead at the hospital about an hour later.
An autopsy showed Hughes was suffering from arteriosclerosis, a thickening of the arterial walls. The disease is usually limited to elderly persons.
Hughes was believed to have been the first person to have ever collapsed of a heart attack during a professional football game, though three other persons died of heart attacks soon after a game.
