<p>Arena Football League lineman and Macon native Al Lucas died from blunt force trauma to his spinal cord during a game, according to the Los Angeles County coroner's office.</p><p>The death was ruled an accident, said Craig Harvey, operations chief at the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner, on Thursday.</p><p>Lucas, who played for the Los Angeles Avengers, was a former NFL player in his third year in the Arena league. He died at 26 on April 10 after trying to tackle a New York Dragons kick returner.</p><p>Lucas, 6-foot-1 and 300 pounds, was known as Big Luke and was an assistant coach with his alma mater, Northeast High School in Macon.</p><p>Lucas attended Troy State from 1996-99 and won the Buck Buchanan Award his senior season as the top defensive player in Division I-AA. He played two seasons (2000-01) for the Carolina Panthers before going to the Arena Football League, where he was selected to the league's all-rookie team in 2003 while with Tampa Bay.</p>
