Ray Lucas: From the gridiron to addiction—and back

Ray Lucas knows what it’s like to hit rock bottom. The studio analyst for the show Jets Nation on SportsNet New York and former quarterback for the New England Patriots, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, and Baltimore Ravens overcame his addiction to prescription painkillers and is now speaking publicly to help others find recovery, given that it is a public health epidemic across the U.S.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, prescription painkiller overdoses account for more than 15,500 deaths a year in the U.S. Drug overdose death rates have more than tripled since 1990 in the U.S. and the increase in opioid prescriptions in the past decade is being blamed for the surge in addictions and deaths.

Lucas says he was on the verge of being one of those grim statistics.

“I tried to take 50 pills in one night so I wouldn’t wake up. Another time I had planned that when my kids and wife went to church I would drive off the George Washington Bridge. I hit the bottom,” he says.

Today, Lucas says he’s clean, sober, and surviving drug addiction. And he wants others to know that there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

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Breaking the silence

The stigma of addiction doesn’t scare Lucas. “I’m speaking openly about my addiction to painkillers because I received the gift of sobriety. And if you receive a gift like that and keep it for yourself, you’re not benefiting anyone. If I can save one person suffering in silence, then I’m doing my job.”

Lucas’ addiction to painkillers stems from his time in the NFL. The former QB says he’s had 14 surgeries including procedures on his back, elbows, shoulders, and neck. And the pain associated with injuries sustained while playing (that ultimately cut his career short) and post-surgery fueled his addiction.

“I went from having one prescription for painkillers to, in a short time, taking anywhere from 150 to 800 painkillers a month,” he says. “I built up a tolerance and the more I took, the more my body needed to function. I was out of control before I had a chance to understand where I was.”

That lack of control was isolating.

“I stopped shaving and taking showers. I shut myself off in a room away from my wife and daughters. I was happy to be by myself,” he says. “I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror. I wanted to punch the guy I saw; I didn’t understand who he was.”

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Coming clean

Lucas says it’s tough to admit you have a problem and then to ask someone for help. But the love and support of his family is what pulled him from the brink of suicide and despair.

“My wife said either I go and get help or she would go with the three kids. The reality of that hit me immediately because I wanted to be a good dad and husband who wasn’t an addict.”

Lucas spent 42 days in a lock down facility detoxing and getting his life back on track. And to stay on a sober path, Lucas says he takes one day at a time instead of counting the number of days he’s been sober. “Today I am clean and sober and that’s good enough for me. I stay in the moment and stay aware of all of my surroundings; I don’t count days.”

He’s also become an advocate for addicts.

“Everyone needs to understand that drugs don’t care about race, color, your job or background. Once the hooks of addiction are in you, it’s what you do after to help yourself out,” he says.

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Empowerment through education

When he completed rehab, Lucas says he wanted to know more about addiction and learned that that the type of intense rehab he went through might not work for everyone. “That’s why I partnered with turntohelp.com. That site lets people who can’t go away for a month or so still seek help because anyone can be saved and can come back from depths of suicide. No matter how bad are, you have choices to reclaim life,” he says.

Lucas credits his wife and children with saving his life.

“That type of love and support is so important.”

And he urges loved ones of addicts to not give up.

“I am a functioning member of society and was probably off grid for about two-and-a-half years. But having my family support me when I was struggling was everything. Addicts like to suffer in silence and to stay in the blackness all alone. But having people to look on and say ‘we’re here, you’re not alone’ helps.”

And Lucas says he’s ‘here’ too.

“I want addicts to know I was once like you, suffering in silence. I came out on the other end, and you can, too.”

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