Transcript

My name is Ray Lucas.

[Announcer] Lucas eludes a sack, takes off.

[Ray] I played in the NFL from 1996 to 2003.

[Announcer] Lucas with the bomb to Keyshawn Johnson.

... round draft pick and 2.5 million dollars ...

For the past six years, I've been a broadcaster

hosting the New York Jets pre and post game shows.

... they're always playing from behind ...

(laughing)

I've been married to my wife, Sassy for 15 years.

I have three daughters.

By almost any measure you could say

that I have a great life.

But until very recently,

I was making plans to end it.

(dramatic music)

At the time, I was addicted to pain pills.

Percocets, Oxy, Demerol.

I was taking roughly 80 pills a day.

... dear Lord ...

So, all of our money, thousands of dollars a month,

went to pay for my addiction.

I was doing this because my life had been consumed by pain

ever since I retired from the NFL.

[Announcer] Side by side.

Jets spread the backfield again, they spread the field.

And here is Lucas.

[Co-announcer] And is that Ray, is that Ray Lucas

on the ground?

[Announcer] It is.

[Ray] My second season, I suffered

two herniated disks inverted

and had shooting pains from my middle of my back

down through my legs and into my feet.

I played with that for the next six years.

(fans cheering)

[Announcer] ... saw it that time, as well.

Lucas gets dumped as the throw is incomplete.

And Lucas is hurt.

(grunts)

Today, every morning when I wake up

the nerve damage in my back is so bad

that I have to punch my legs awake.

(grunts)

The pain in my neck, it actually sends my body

into uncontrollable spasms.

(sniffs)

Concussions.

I've had more than 19 concussions.

19 that I know of.

[Announcer] ... he had a little flare up that time.

It's a fumble.

And Lucas is still down.

[Ray] No one ever told us

what the effects of the concussions

were gonna be in the future.

No one.

Trainers, doctors, coaches, nobody.

[Announcer] Oh boy, look at Ray Lucas, that's tough.

So the pain doesn't stop when you finish playing,

but the health insurance from the NFL

most certainly does.

And no insurance plan was going to cover me

with my pre existing conditions

from my NFL injuries.

There was really nothing left for me to do

except take every single pain pill

that I could get my hands on.

And when that wasn't enough

I would get what I needed off the street.

I was worse than worthless.

I thought I was a drain on everyone who loved me

and I came to the conclusion

that there was nothing else to do

except end my miserable life.

My plan was to get into my truck

and drive to the George Washington bridge's upper deck

and make a hard right in the middle of the bridge

and pray to God that I didn't take anybody else with me.

I was sitting at home one day

and got a call from a player

and on the other end of the phone he says to me,

I'm gonna kill myself, I need help and I need help now,

and I'm gonna kill myself on Sunday.

You don't get a lot of calls like that.

And that's how Ray Lucas came to PAST.

... what's great, I'm getting surgery.

I'm cool with it.

[Jennifer] PAST is an organization that was started

by doctor William Focazio, and it's comprised of many

medical specialists that are dedicated to working

as a team to provide comprehensive pro bono

medical services to retired NFL players.

You know what I mean, like, how many fuckin times

am I gonna have to go through this stuff, you know,

like how many times?

If you had things that we couldn't fix,

that we couldn't do, then that would be

such a tragedy, but there're things that we can fix for you.

And that's the way I think you have to look at it.

[Jennifer] The first thing we had

to do with Ray is provide him

with a fusion surgery, removing the discs from his neck

and then fusing the vertebrae together,

that he should've had several years earlier

but with no insurance couldn't get.

Come on you did a great job, really smooth, Ray,

I'm very pleased, okay?

And about three months later we put him through

a specialized rehab program we have for retired players.

I am an addict, number one.

Like every day emotionally for me, I gotta make sure that,

or try to make sure I'm keeping everything in check.

I'm six foot four and 230 pounds.

There's not too many things I'm afraid of.

I'm not afraid of dying, I'm not afraid of gun play,

I'm not afraid of, I'm not afraid of any of it.

Know what I'm afraid of?

The little ass fucking white pill.

I'm afraid if I take one, you won't never see me again.

Never.

[Jennifer] We're three years into

our treatment program with Ray

and it's great that he's thriving,

he has a successful family life.

... five million dollars, I'm thinking

maybe a right tackle ...

[Jennifer] He's got a great career.

And now he's a vital part of our organization.

This is the rest portion right here.

For what it's gonna do, the relief,

those shots wouldn't pay at all.

[Jennifer] And then there're the ongoing

challenges with Ray.

Oh, God.

[Man] Where is it in the neck or the lower back?

From the top of the neck, and it goes into the middle

of my back, like that knife.

[Jennifer] Ray is going to be in chronic pain for the rest

of his life, so keeping that pain in check

without the use of narcotics is very challenging.

(scoffs)

Is that pretty much the spots?

[Ray] Yes, yes.

[Jennifer] Trying to get out in front of his brain trauma,

he is already having memory issues.

And he's colorblind, so it does not go backwards.

[Man] Well where's the pain to the lower back,

down here?

[Jennifer] Dealing with a case like Ray's

is a case that never ends.

(piano music)

[Announcer] That is Brent Boyd, a guard center.

[Man] I suffered at least 200 concussions in my career.

There's this marker on your brain,

it's called tau protein, that's a marker for CTE,

and they tell me you've got it, and you're on your own.

One of the things we've been working on

are protocols to reverse or lessen the symptoms

that are related to post concussion issues.

Right after Junior's death, the mission of

raising awareness is done.

It's time to find solutions.

This has been positioned to him

as he's going into a safe environment

to be able to get off of all of his medications,

because it will make his brain better,

and he wants to make his brain better.