Early Sunday morning, in the darkness after mourners and television crews had left, Sam Anno walked out to the cliffs at Point Fermin Park in San Pedro. The USC assistant football coach wanted to see the spot where his kicker, Mario Danelo, died over the weekend.
Anno had spent the evening about a mile away at Danelo's family home, commiserating with a father "sad as hell," he said, and a mother who "couldn't cry any more tears."
Now he looked upon a short slope of ice plant leading to an eroded dirt ledge, a sudden drop-off. Danelo had plummeted to the rocky shore below.
"You keep asking yourself the same question," Anno said. "Why?"
As of Sunday, police said they had ruled out foul play, leaving the possibilities of accident or suicide. Teammates said they could not imagine Danelo's death as anything other than unintentional.
His older brother, Joey, echoed that sentiment, telling the Associated Press it was "an unfortunate accident."
The 21-year-old athlete had not seemed troubled of late. A normally steady performer, he uncharacteristically missed two of four extra-point kicks during USC's victory over Michigan in the Rose Bowl last Monday, but had made two field goals.
"He was not the type of guy to let anything get him down," said Will Collins, the special teams snapper and a close friend. "I never met a happier kid."
An initial police investigation indicated that Danelo had gone out with friends Friday night and was last seen around midnight. Perhaps more will be known about his death -- which occurred sometime Saturday -- from an autopsy scheduled today.
It could take weeks to obtain toxicology results that would detect the presence of alcohol or drugs in his system.
The young man known as "Mo" arrived at USC in the fall of 2003. An All-City Section linebacker who once made a 46-yard field goal for San Pedro High, he was nonetheless a walk-on, not offered a scholarship to play. But he did have a pedigree.
His father had spent a decade in the NFL kicking for several teams. Joe Danelo still holds a New York Giants record for making six field goals in a 1981 game against the Seattle Seahawks.
After football, Danelo's father settled with his family in San Pedro and began a second career as a longshoreman. Mario's brother worked on the docks and Mario had recently sought a union card, too.
"The Danelo family is really part of this working-class community," said Dave Arian, a former union official.
