Junior Seau's nephew tries out with New York Giants

The nephew of Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau is bidding to make his mark on the NFL.

Ian Seau, the nephew of Junior Seau, was invited to the New York Giants' rookie minicamp as a tryout player. The 25-year-old, who had 10 sacks in his senior year as a defensive end at Nevada, has remained out of football since being released by the Buffalo Bills in September.

"It's hard to live up to," the 6-foot-2, 250-pound Seau told the New York Daily News of his family's legacy. "He is my uncle, there is always going to be these expectations but I feel like what I've done, when I've played snaps in the preseason I've done some things that he has done."

Ian Seau was 19 when the 43-year-old Junior Seau took his own life with a shotgun wound to the chest in May 2012 after battling depression and behavioral changes. The latter was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy -- a degenerative brain disease due to repeated blows to the head -- prompting Ian's mother (Junior's sister) to start the Mary Seau CTE Foundation.

"I know [the NFL] is trying to find ways to make it safer. I'm just living out there, not really worried about that. I'm worried about what we're doing on the next play," Ian Seau told the newspaper. "I know my mom has her foundation and she chose to educate me on this. I know the symptoms and the signs."

Junior Seau was an eight-time All-Pro and 12-time Pro Bowl player with the then-San Diego Chargers (1990-2002). He also played with the Miami Dolphins (2003-05) and New England Patriots (2006-09). He was named to the all-decade team of the 1990s.