Former South Kitsap quarterback’s death ruled accidental overdose

Former South Kitsap High School quarterback Anthony Fein died of an accidental overdose last month, the Kitsap County Corner’s Office announced Tuesday.

Corner Greg Sandstrom said the official cause of death for the 27-year-old Fein was “acute opiate intoxication” from ingestion of both morphine and Alprazolam, another name for the anxiety drug Xanax.

A contributing factor in the death was Fein having difficulty breathing due to vomiting.

Sandstrom said the overdose was deemed accidental firstly because “there was no note,” and secondly because of the quantity of the medications found in Fein’s system.

“There in no indication of suicide, and if there is ever any question, we usually err of the side of accidental,” he said.

Fein was found unconscious, vomiting and barely breathing by South Kitsap Fire and Rescue personnel around 9 a.m. Oct. 6 at a friend’s house on the 2500 block of Salmonberry Road.

Paramedics put a breathing tube down Fein’s throat and administered medication, but he went into cardiac arrest during the drive to Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton and was pronounced dead at the hospital at 9:48 a.m., according to Battalion Chief Mike Wernet said.

Fein was a quarterback for SKHS under D.J. Sigurdson in 1999-2000, later enlisting in the Army and serving 2 1/2 years in Iraq as a 19 Delta reconnaissance scout.

He went on to attend Arizona’s Scottsdale Community College and Ole Miss, where he racked up 136 tackles (77 solo) in 24 games for the Rebels in 2007-08.

He had a tryout with the Seattle Seahawks earlier this year, but was cut. On Sept. 5, he was released by the Baltimore Ravens.

Independent Sports Editor Chris Chancellor contributed to this report.