Scott Vermillion (December 23, 1976 – December 25, 2020) was an American professional soccer player from Olathe, Kansas, who played for the Kansas City Wizards and Colorado Rapids.[1][2][3] He entered the league in 1998 as a member of Generation Adidas, then known as Project 40. He was a Third Team All American in his junior year at the University of Virginia before joining Project 40.[4] In his final season at UVA the team finished as runner up to UCLA in the 1997 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | December 23, 1976 | ||
| Place of birth | Independence, Missouri, U.S. | ||
| Date of death | December 25, 2020 (aged 44) | ||
| Place of death | Olathe, Kansas, U.S. | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Olathe Soccer Club | |||
| Olathe East High School | |||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995–1997 | Virginia Cavaliers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1998 | Kansas City Wizards | 22 | (1) |
| 1999–2001 | Colorado Rapids | 28 | (2) |
| 2001 | D.C. United | 12 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 1992–1993 | United States U17 | ||
| 1996 | United States U20 | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
He died on December 25, 2020, at the age of 44 from acute alcohol and prescription drug poisoning.[5] In 2022, Boston University examined his brain and found that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Vermillion was the first soccer player to have been diagnosed with CTE posthumously.[6]