My
Life on the Line
tells the personal story of strong right tackle who played
for the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs. Ryan
had a secret that no one knew, not even his family or closest
friends. This secret had led Ryan to the plan that when he
was no longer able to play professional football, he was going
to commit suicide. He went so far as to spend all of his earnings
so when he was forced to retire due to injury he had little
money to his name. His secret? He’s a gay man.
My
Life on the Line describes Ryan’s struggles with
who he is and the rough masculine sport of football. Ryan
felt alone. He did not think that he would be accepted in
the locker room, on the field or in society. On top of his
struggling with who he is, his injuries and the NFL drug policy
led him to abuse prescription drugs. Luckily, there were people
in the NFL community that were able to recognize his drug
use and forced him into treatment where he was able to come
clean off of the drugs and come clean about who he is as a
person. This led him to be accepted by his family, friends
and fellow NFL players.
As
this reader was reading My Life on the Line, thoughts
were about how naïve Ryan was in this day and age about
the acceptance of people for who they are sexually. No one
really cares and they will love you for you, not for who you
sleep with. This reader is glad that Ryan was able to find
out that he can be accepted for who he is before he took that
tragic step of suicide.
For
anyone that is struggling with a secret, no matter what it
is, should read My Life on the Line and see how they could
relate to Ryan’s story and learn that they could be
accepted.
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