New York Jets’ Erik Ainge opens up about drug addiction
Erik Ainge, backup quarterback for the New York Jets, said that after a long, hard battle with illicit drugs, he is finally making a recovery. In an interview on Tuesday, the 24-year-old quarterback said that he had been “a really bad drug addict” that “would’ve
made Charlie Sheen look like Miss Daisy.” He also said himself that he suffers from bipolar disorder, which is a medical term referring to a condition which involves periods of depression mixed in with elevated or irritable mood, which can change very abruptly.
Ainge also said that he abused alcohol, marijuana, heroin, cocaine and prescription medications, also adding that he had overdosed several times. He entered “a drug treatment/rehab facility for 'recreational issues'” in the 2010 season after he violated
the National Football League’s (NFL) substance abuse policy for the second time. Ainge was first suspended for four games in November of 2008 for violating the league’s policy and rejoined the team on 15 December, 2008.
Ainge’s father, Doug Ainge, spoke with another newspaper regarding his son, saying “You see the conflict between winning and a player's overall health. Unfortunately for Erik he has an addictive personality. Fortunately for Erik he has figured that out and
now knows better coping strategies for the rest of his life! I love him so much and am so proud of him.”
Craig Ruecker knew Ainge when he was with the Glencoe Crimson Tide team in Oregon but “had no clue until I read this morning that in the fifth or sixth grade he started taking pills. Obviously through all of high school and college he fooled everybody.”
Ainge spoke with reporters because he wanted to make people aware about the dangers of addiction and to care for their own mental health. He stresses that even though he was afraid of talking with someone about his problem, everything changed for the better
when he did, and that athletes and other children should do the same.
Ainge was selected in the fifth round, overall pick number 162, of the 2008 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. He was injured and then suspended in 2008 and then did not play at all in 2009. He is currently listed as Reserve/Did Not Report on the team’s roster.
Tags: