Las Vegas Raiders tight end Darren Waller endured a battle with injuries and COVID-19 at the end of the regular season, causing him to miss five straight games from Week 13-17. In an interview with ESPN's Paul Gutierrez, Waller revealed those weren't the only fight he was going through. Waller opened up about his past struggles with addiction, and how his battle with sobriety impacted him while he was sidelined from football.
Raiders’ TE Darren Waller said his battle for sobriety made being out harder, via @PGutierrezESPN.https://t.co/Rf0mNMLHuR
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 13, 2022
“Because of my disease of addiction, that can have me thinking all kinds of crazy things,” Waller said via ESPN. “So, I've got to make sure that I'm talking about those things when I have all that idle time. I've got my therapist. Stay going to [A.A.] meetings. Stayed in the playbook. Working on music. Just staying solid, keeping my head out of that idle time and just into things that I enjoy. And stay into the game of football as much as I can.”
Waller was brave enough to open up about his struggles with sobriety and share them with football fans across the country. It took guts for him to showcase such a vulnerable side of himself publicly, but his interview will certainly have an impact on fans, including some who may be struggling with similar vices.
“It's tough, honestly, because I'm a human being at the end of the day and I'm still trying to shed my old thinking patterns,” he said via ESPN. “So, when I'm not out there [playing], I can think these thoughts of, ‘The team is balling without me being in there. Am I useless?' These irrational thoughts.”
Waller's struggles with addiction have landed him in trouble in the past. The tight end was suspended four games in 2016 for violating the league's substance abuse policy, and he missed the entire 2017 season after getting another suspension. In August of 2017, Waller was found passed out in his car after taking prescription pills that were reportedly laced with fentanyl. This incident served as a wake-up call for Waller, who has since managed to turn his life around.
Nowadays, Waller is arguably the most talented player on the Raiders offense and is also a candidate to be the team's Walter Peyton Man of the Year winner. He made a dramatic life turnaround after hitting rock bottom, and he's now sharing his experiences in order to shine some light on the serious disease that is addiction.
Waller and Raiders fans alike are pleased that he's back on the field after his lengthy injury absence late in the season, and he'll now turn his focus to taking down the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card round.
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