The Winnebago County Coroner released the official cause of death for a former Northern Illinois University football player. 
Winnebago County Coroner Bill Hintz says Alex Kube died from cardiac arrhythmia, cardiomegaly and left ventricular hypertrophy. He says that means Kube’s heart stopped beating because his heart was enlarged due to a thickened left ventricle.
Hintz says Kube’s heart weighed more than 700 grams.
“To give you an example, you know, I’m 220 pounds at five foot, ten inches,” Hintz said. “My heart should weigh about 300 grams.”
Hintz says Kube was bigger than him, but 700 grams was still too big. He says the enlarged heart could have happened from having a reaction to exercise, heart disease or high blood pressure.
Hintz says some drugs were found in Kube’s system, but they were all therapeutic – meaning they were prescribed to him for known conditions.
Kube was an assistant football coach at Rockford East High School. He was a former linebacker at NIU and played football at Cary-Grove High School, where he graduated in 2006.
