Former BYU and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Max Hall says his arrest for shoplifting and cocaine possession in 2014 forced him to deal with his addictions to Oxycontin, cocaine, and alcohol.


Police found Hall at an Arizona Best Buy at 11:30 a.m. with stolen items and a “personal use quantity of cocaine.” Hall had his charges dropped when he completed a program at a rehab facility in Orem, Utah.

The former NFL quarterback tells the Salt Lake Tribune he’s in much better condition, but Hall calls the time after his arrest “the lowest point of my life.”


From the article:

It got bad during his rookie season with the Cardinals, in 2010, and worsened in 2011. From there, he alternately cleaned up and got dirty over the span of three years, never quite able to defeat the draw of the drugs, even after playing in the games was done and gone. “It put my life in a downward spiral,” he said. “It was tough. … I got caught up in it bad.” Over a six-month period, Hall finally thought he’d hacked his way free. He wanted to believe he’d beaten it — “You think you can handle it,” he said — all on his own, particularly the abuse of the Oxycontin, a painkiller that he said did more than kill his pain, it gave him “the best high in the world.” Turned out, it took more than it gave. He called it the devil, a drug meant to kill pain that ironically so horribly enhanced it, instead. His life became a hellish mess. Still, he refused to get help. “I was scared,” he said. But the painkiller continued to pull hard. “The cravings you have for it, I can’t describe how nasty that is,” he said.

Hall says that these days, he has a counselor, attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and regularly goes to church. He also speaks to groups about overcoming his addictions.

[Salt Lake Tribune]

Photo: Getty Images

H/t to Brian