Hopeful comeback story for Darren Waller

Architorture23

Architorture23

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https://theathletic.com/642206/2018...dnt-like-himself-and-drugs-were-how-he-coped/

His uniform last fall and winter consisted of a Sprouts Farmers Market T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Instead of his name on the back of a football jersey, his identity was confirmed by a button that he wore on his chest.

“My name is Darren,” it read. “I’m from Acworth, Georgia.”

He often noticed shoppers at the suburban Atlanta supermarket looking him up and down as he stacked groceries on shelves. Some even worked up the nerve to say something.

“There would be customers that would be like, ‘Oh my goodness, you’re so big. You should be on a field somewhere,’” Ravens tight end Darren Waller said. “I’d be like, ‘Well, it’s a long story.’”
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Is there any particular reason why two of our former student athletes were resigned to working in grocery stores? Isn't our whole pitch that you have better fall back plans than that?
 
BainbridgeJacket said:
Is there any particular reason why two of our former student athletes were resigned to working in grocery stores? Isn't our whole pitch that you have better fall back plans than that?
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Did Waller graduate? Vad's degree is from JMU.
 
Vad also didn't work at a grocery store, he worked for Nabisco. But still not a GT grad
 
smokey_wasp said:
Waller graduated with a degree in management.
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Could have something to do with the drug issue that is presumably addressed in that article. Or that he has money and is spending a lot of time training and working out and just needs a job to cover some basic expenses?
 
Seems like someone in the GT network should be available to utilize him in a more suitable role.
 
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coit said:
Could have something to do with the drug issue that is presumably addressed in that article. Or that he has money and is spending a lot of time training and working out and just needs a job to cover some basic expenses?
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Yeah, I am paywalled, so I dunno how the article concludes. Per wiki, he is on the Ravens' practice squad, but I dunno if that is still the case. Sensible not to start another career if he is still trying to make it in football. Good luck to him.
 
Sorry about the paywall. I 80k so I don't how poors get their news.

A few more excerpts:

About the job at Sprouts:
“I felt like getting that job got me to block out any feeling of entitlement or the line of thinking, ‘Aw man, I could be doing this or I could be doing that,’” Waller said. “No. I put myself somewhere where I could just focus on doing tasks, putting work in, getting things done, getting a check for it and then going home. I wanted to keep it simple and not allow my mind to go all over the place. It was definitely humbling and rewarding.”
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Time at GT:
Waller first confronted his usage when he failed drug tests at Georgia Tech, earning two different suspensions from the team and two trips to an in-patient rehab facility. On the first visit, he made it clear that he had no plans to stop using. He took a different approach with the second one and stayed clean for about six months.

But a pattern had emerged that would burden him for several years. He kept resources and people that wanted to help at arm’s length, and was in constant denial about his issues with drugs and depression.

The Yellow Jackets’ 2014 season should’ve been a time of celebration for Waller. He was progressing toward a business degree at a widely-respected institution and he had emerged as one of the top offensive weapons for a team that went 10-3 and beat Dak Prescott and Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl. Waller, who played wide receiver at Georgia Tech, had five receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown in the game, and finished his final collegiate season with six touchdowns for a team that didn’t throw the ball much.

“There would be games, especially his senior year where they did so well and had so many exciting wins, and everybody was screaming and hollering and being happy, all the coaches and players — except for him,” Charlena said. “I knew he was trying his best to be happy. In his mind, he figured if he smiled and tried to act like everything was OK, it would be. But there was a bit more to it than that.”
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The last time he did drugs:
His chest was tight, compromising each breath. His head spun mercilessly. The smallest of movements made him want to empty the contents of his stomach onto the pavement below.

“I felt like I was going to die,” Waller said.

His car parked in an Owings Mills shopping center — across the street from his apartment and not far from the Ravens team facility — Waller reclined his seat and closed his eyes, hoping that the feeling overtaking his body would relent. He didn’t move for the next five hours.

It was Aug. 11, 2017, the night after the Ravens preseason opener. Waller, suspended a few months earlier, was ineligible to play. His father, Dorian, was due in Baltimore later that day to help pack up his son’s apartment.

But first, Waller swallowed some pills. He’d been doing drugs for a long time and he never felt like this. Later, he’d conclude that the pills were laced with Fentanyl. It was the last time he consumed drugs or alcohol, Waller said, cutting off a periodic part of his life since he was 16.
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Man, Waller was a beast in that '14 Orange bowl. Maybe he was coked up.
 
BainbridgeJacket said:
Is there any particular reason why two of our former student athletes were resigned to working in grocery stores? Isn't our whole pitch that you have better fall back plans than that?
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How many corporate jobs are there for folks who just got suspended from their previous job for substance issues? It doesn't matter where you got your degree if you're in that particular situation.
 
A "widely-respected institution"? That's a backhanded compliment if I ever saw one. How about "the thirty-fifth-best national research university in the country, according to US News"?

And PS, we finished 11-3 in 2014. Even "The Athletic" sports journalists can't get this basic stuff right. Journalism!!!
 
18in32 said:
A "widely-respected institution"? That's a backhanded compliment if I ever saw one. How about "the thirty-fifth-best national research university in the country, according to US News"?

And PS, we finished 11-3 in 2014. Even "The Athletic" sports journalists can't get this basic stuff right. Journalism!!!
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I may have subscribed if I could have seen the free t-shirt. But if they’re publishing fake news, no thanks.
 
Waller has made about $1.5 million in his time so far in the NFL. He didn't need a career. he needed something to fill up some time and give him some basic responsibilities.
 
Architorture23 said:
Waller has made about $1.5 million in his time so far in the NFL. He didn't need a career. he needed something to fill up some time and give him some basic responsibilities.
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Was that his gross salary or net after agent's cut, taxes, etc.? Either way it's not enough to live off of the rest of his life. Unless he wants to move to Malawi or something.
 
18in32 said:
Was that his gross salary or net after agent's cut, taxes, etc.? Either way it's not enough to live off of the rest of his life. Unless he wants to move to Malawi or something.
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of course it's not enough to live off for life, but it's enough to take a year off while you're living at your parents house after rehab.
 
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