I first heard the name "Anthony Fein" in January 2007. Ole Miss was desperately seeking a replacement for All-American Patrick Willis and Tony Fein, as he would later be known, was on the Rebels' radar as a junior college prospect who could impact immediately.

Fein wasn't the typical junior college player. He wasn't the big recruit who failed to qualify academically coming out of high school and had to attend junior college. By all accounts, he wasn't recruited much at all and entered the US Army at age 19 instead of going off to college.

Fein did a four-year hitch in the Army, including a year in Iraq and enrolled in Scottsdale (Arizona) Community College in 2005 where he blossomed into an All-American. He had several major college offers and his recruitment basically came down to Ole Miss, Michigan State and Louisville.

He picked Ole Miss on signing day 2007, the allure of replacing Willis and a shot at the NFL proved too tempting to pass up.

Having made the Army a career in my earlier days, when I learned Fein was an Iraqi War veteran, my interest was heightened. I wrote a feature about him and his service in Iraq after he signed with Ole Miss.

Fein, who served as a recon scout in Iraq, was rather reserved about talking about his war experiences, reminiscent of my father's refusal to talk of his service in World War II. War is ugly; most who serve had rather forget than dwell on what they had to do under extraordinary conditions.

After Fein arrived at Ole Miss in 2007 and as that football season began, I saw him often. I introduced myself the first time and told him I was a retired colonel and he almost snapped to attention. That was neither required nor expected, but traditions picked up in the military are difficult to simply easily discard. We both understood that.

I would like to write that Fein's time at Ole Miss was smooth and uneventful, but that's simply not the case. He came in during the last year of the Ed Orgeron era where pressure was often ratcheted up after each loss, and there were plenty of those.

The defense was a mix between that of then new defensive coordinator John Thompson and Orgeron. There was plenty of pressure, probably the last thing someone coming from Iraq needed. Fein didn't necessarily respond well, got in doghouse and was benched early on before rebounding to record nearly 85 tackles as a junior.

Change came again in November 2007 with the hiring of Houston Nutt. Only two months later, Fein came very close to being kicked off the team based on an undisclosed incident believed to have involved a confrontation between Fein and a tutor. Nutt reviewed his status and gave him a second chance.

As the 2008 season progressed, Fein's number of tackles were somewhat reduced from his 2007 season showing, but that was largely because of the improved play of the Ole Miss defensive line. While fans remember the stop on Tim Tebow in the Swamp when the Rebels beat eventual national champion Florida, the Ole Miss staff had the play before that etched in their mind when Fein came from halfway across the field to knock Tebow out of bounds to create the fourth and short situation.

There was no doubt that Fein played with a chip on his shoulder. He was a subscriber to RebelSports.net and read what fans wrote about him. He once asked me - "why do fans say that," referring to some who questioned his play. I had no good answer. There is no doubt in my mind that Fein took that criticism, catalogued it and channeled it into energy on the field to show that he wasn't only a quality SEC linebacker, but also one with NFL potential.

When news came late Tuesday that Fein was dead, I was as shocked as the next person. When young people die, I'm always reminded of the words of my father-in-law, who lost a daughter in at traffic accident at the age of 23. He said, "children are supposed to bury their parents, parents shouldn't have to bury their children." Truer words have never been spoken.

The cause of Fein's death has not been disclosed with reports saying he was taken to an emergency room where he died. I could speculate here. However, when those details do come out, it will undoubtedly be something contributed by his service in the Iraqi War. The war's impact on Fein was just too visible - from the quiet moods to carrying a chip on his shoulder, to the confrontations both at Ole Miss and Baltimore, where he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer. There were far too many signs.

Some will say Fein's undoing was his own. For those who have served in combat, or understand what it's like to serve in combat, they will applaud Fein's trek from combat solider to Ole Miss Rebel to NFL hopeful and realize the many factors that contributed to a sad and tragic ending.