Former NFL players visit Lejeune

No one would mistake the football gridiron for a combat zone, but the message of former NFL players to wounded warriors aboard Camp Lejeune Sunday was that they all had much in common.

The players, including Lennie Friedman, Jay Williams, Tony Collins, Curtis Gentry, Jim Kitts, and Jacksonville’s own Quincy Monk, visited the Ball Center aboard Camp Lejeune to spend quality time with wounded warriors and take in a football game between the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs.

The visit was presented by the Real Warriors Campaign, which educates troops and veterans about overcoming invisible wounds, including traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“The NFL Players’ Association takes a special interest in the Real Warrior Campaign because they appreciate the sacrifices that you and your family have made, and they understand that on the battlefield, you have to be physically and mentally strong to survive,” Danika Rainer, conference and events director for the campaign, said in a brief presentation to the troops. The presentation concluded with a video showing a Marine who successfully sought help and was able to complete treatment, recover, and return work after a traumatic brain injury.

Friedman, a 10-year NFL veteran who played for the Denver Broncos, Washington Redskins, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns, recalled feeling lost and displaced after ending his career in 2007, a situation he compared to Marines getting taken out of the fight by a wound or combat trauma.

“I really didn’t know what the next step was going to be,” he said. “It caused me a lot of personal stress, and the only way to overcome that was to reach out to friends and family.”

Collins, who played for the New England Patriots, talked about hitting rock bottom during his career, and trying to find stability through drugs and alcohol.

What helped him, he said, was changing his thinking and seeking help.

“It’s OK to reach out. It’s OK to say I can’t do this by myself,” he said.

Former New York Giants player Quincy Monk, who was born and raised in Jacksonville, said he was just grateful to be able to salute and honor the troops of his hometown.

“Any time I can come back and give back, I love it,” he said.

Staff Sgt. Armand Mayville and his wife Christa, who came to watch the game with their two daughters, said the players’ encouragement to seek help resonated after Mayville received a traumatic brain injury on deployment two years ago, it was a reality they’d had to face.

“It took him a year to get help,” Christa said. “I was the driving force behind it. I could tell he had come back different than he was.”

Mayville said his advice to wounded troops who find themselves in a similar position would be to explore all possible opportunities to get help, reaching out to the Naval Hospital or to other commands if they did not get what they needed from their own.

“A lot of the stuff from the video, I know exactly what he was talking about,” he said.

Contact military reporter Hope Hodge at 910-219-8453 or hhodge@freedomenc.com.