Kids play football from the time that they can lift that odd-shaped ball and hold it. It's not as easy as a tennis ball or a baseball, so it takes a little coaching from someone who knows: a brother or dad or mom or the older kid down the street.
Kids play football in the street or on their lawn, which means also on their neighbors' lawns as well. They play in the local playground and on the schoolyard's actual football field. All it takes is a ball and a group of kids and a couple of sticks or cups or whatever to mark the goal lines.
They grow up a little and the fortunate ones make it onto the school team or the community league. The best ones get recruited from high school into college and into the National or American Football Leagues. How many young kids sit and dream about “making it” that far?
Well, for those who do, it's not all wine and roses. All of those scrimmages and knock-down, drag-out games take a big toll on the bodies of the guys who play. Pain is no enemy, and “no pain, no gain” is a frequent motto. Unfortunately, all too frequently painkillers are also a regular habit.
The Sporting News reported on June 28, 2011 that Alabama's own Aaron Douglas, died from an overdose of painkillers. Douglas was an offensive lineman for Tennessee, having been the freshman All-American in 2009. He had transferred to Alabama and was expected to win a starting position when he began school here this fall.
He was actually on vacation in Florida when the tragedy occurred. He was found dead on a balcony and the autopsy showed that he had three drugs: Methadone, Diazepam and Carisoprodol in his system. Methodone is a painkiller that is often used to help opium addicts wean themselves off of harder drugs. Diazepam, better known as Valium, is used for anxiety, and Carisoprodol is a prescription that helps with muscle pain. He took too many, he took too much.
No matter what his problems and concerns were, popping just a few extra pills certainly didn't solve them. He's nobody's hero now.
