For Randy Grimes, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Center and Pro Athletes in Recovery Founder, football was always a way of life. Grimes was a star high school player with the opportunity to play anywhere in the Big-12. Landing Baylor, meeting and marrying his cheerleader wife, and eventually being drafted to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was all his life’s dream. But, the tables quickly turned when the game became a job, and the pains and pressures of the job turned into an ongoing drug addiction.

How It Began

“I was that guy willing to do whatever I had to, to stay out on the field. And that was taking handfuls of pain pills every day and handfuls of sleeping pills every night to sleep through that throbbing pain.” Grimes said, “I looked at it more like a necessary evil more than what it really was, which was a full-blown addiction.”

Even years after his NFL career ended, Grimes was still abusing opiates. “When I was not Randy Grimes the football player anymore, then those opiates kind of took over that feeling, too,” he said. “That loss of identity really stung for a long time.”

The Turning Point

Randy finally came to a turning point in his addiction when he realized the magnitude of his issue had compounded and left him essentially penniless. He eventually sought help at a rehab center. “Nobody helped me that day, crawl in that door, and I’m glad they didn’t because crawling in the door that night was my greatest accomplishment,” Grimes recounted.

It was a long journey that was far from easy. “It took a lot of counseling; it took a lot of encouraging. It took somebody pushing me every day. It took somebody to be accountable to every day.” Like all other challenges he had faced in life, through a long journey, Grimes persevered to win.  

Opioid Use Disorder Prevention

How can addictions like Grimes’s be prevented? He proposed a few ideas.

“I think we should emphasize the fact that big boys do cry and that it’s okay to not be okay. And if we get that message out to everybody, then it makes it easier for them to raise their hand, it makes it easier for them to fight through the stigma that’s associated with addiction or mental health issues.”

Society is getting better at this, but the issue is not yet completely solved.

Grimes also suggested implementing assessments at a younger age to identify potential problems. Teachers, counselors, and coaches also need to educate better because addiction impacts every person in every community. Grimes said, “We can do better informing people of the resources and the hope that’s out there.”

Looking for warning signs of addiction or mental health issues in others is also vital. Warning signs can include isolation, anger, relationship or financial problems, and loss of interest.  

Grimes said of his journey, “It’s taught me to meet people where they’re at. Not only in their lives, but in their addiction as well.”

Need Help?

If you are struggling with opioid use disorder or mental health issues, call the SAMHSA National Helpline. It’s a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and substance use disorders.

Call: 1-800-662-4357

More Information

For more from Vital Spark, visit www.sparkbiomedical.com or subscribe to the podcast. You can also visit offcenter.com to access Grimes’s book Off Center or go to proathletesinrecovery.org or randygrimespeaks.com, or whitesandstreatment.com to contact Grimes.

Host: Daniel Litwin

Guest: Randy Grimes