Praise for After the Cheering Stops
Grant Feasel was my friend and my center when I was a quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, but I had no idea about the hidden and tragic story that unfolded after he retired. I read After the Cheering Stops in one night. Its eye-opening, painful, and redemptive. I pray Cyndys book opens peoples eyes and helps us all live in transparency by asking for help no matter the pain and problems we face.
Jeff Kemp, former NFL quarterback and author of Facing the Blitz
Football, lacrosse, soccer, and hockey parents need to read After the Cheering Stops. Cyndys story is one any parent should take close to heart. Brain trauma in our children is not only preventable, but its a parents job to give our children all of the information they need before they make their sport decisions. This great read will help.
Becky Johnson, coauthor of This Is Your Brain on Joy and Nourished
After the Cheering Stops is a heart-wrenching and transparent story about CTE and concussions. Cyndy Feasel is destined to become the Erin Brockovich of CTE for sounding the alarm of what concussions can do to a family.
Julie Carobini, novelist and author of Walking on Sea Glass
When Grant Feasel was my center while I was a quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, we were close as can be. The Fighting Feasel was the consummate prodiligent, accountable, responsible, and selfless. His hands were often bloodied, so much so that there would be blood on the ball he hiked to me, prompting us to joke that we could be blood brothers. But, all those collisions took their toll. Im proud of Cyndy for standing up and talking about the intimate details of her life after Grants playing days were done.
Dave Krieg, former Seattle Seahawks quarterback
Cyndy Feasel has written a real account of the difficulties encountered by players and their families when its over. The transition out of professional sports is difficult for any normal person, but all too often NFL players deal with issues out of their control, putting their families in complete chaos. Cyndys brave portrayal of how years of head and body trauma turned the greatest of peoplea gentle giant named Grant Feaselinto a broken, empty shell, needs to be part of the discussion. Im a supporter of youth football, but there is a real monster out there.
Vann McElroy, former All-Pro NFL safety
Every parent with a child playing in youth sports like football, soccer, and lacrosse should take the time to read After the Cheering Stops. Cyndys story is a cautionary tale of how concussions can destroy a marriage and devastate the family.
Joe Sweeney, author of Networking Is a Contact Sport and Moving the Needle
2016 by Cyndy Davy Feasel
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ISBN 978-0-7180-8833-0 (eBook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Feasel, Cyndy, author. | Yorkey, Mike, author.
Title: After the cheering stops : an NFL wife's story of devastation, loss, and the faith that saw her through / by Cyndy Feasel, with Mike Yorkey.
Description: Nashville : Thomas Nelson, [2016]
Identifiers: LCCN 2016020385 | ISBN 9780718088309 (hardback)
Subjects: LCSH: Feasel, Cyndy,Mental health. | Feasel, Grant, 1952Mental health. | BrainConcussionUnited States. | Football playersUnited States--Biography. | Sports injuriesPatientsBiography.
Classification: LCC RC394.C7 F43 2016 | DDC 617.4/81044092 [B]dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016020385
16 17 18 19 20 RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To all the families dealing with the loss of a loved one with CTE
CONTENTS
by Daniel G. Amen, M.D.
I f Id only known that what I loved the most would end up killing me and taking away everything I loved, I would have never done it.
These were among the last words spoken to me by my late husband, Grant Feasel. He was talking about playing professional football.
Grant was the starting center and long snapper for the Seahawks from 1987 to 1992 after starting his pro football career with the old Baltimore Colts in 1983. While playing 117 games in the National Football League, Grant was just another anonymous offensive lineman who toiled in the trenches, banging up his battered body with every snap of the ball. As youre about to read, those jarring collisions with powerful nose guards took their toll on Grant in physical, mental, and spiritual ways.
You see, Grant drank himself to deatha slow, lingering process that took nearly twenty years. He didnt press a gun to his heart and pull the trigger like San Diego Chargers linebacker Junior Seau did, but Grant committed suicide all the same. He drank to dull the pain that began in his braina brain muddled by a history of repetitive trauma and symptomatic concussions. He drank and drank... until the alcohol killed him.
Grants death certificate lists ESLD (end-stage liver disease, a form of cirrhosis of the liver) as the cause of his demise, but our family later learned that he also suffered from a degenerative brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, which has been the focus of lawsuits from former NFL players and the topic of a Hollywood movie, Concussion, starring Will Smith.
And then there was the collateral damage. I can assure you that what happened to Grant during our adult years together destroyed our marriage, devastated my relationship with our three children, and left me destitute. All because he played a violent game that entertains tens of millions of football fans every Sunday.
What youre about to read will be difficult and raw in many ways, but I want to put a human face on what can happen to an NFL player and his family long after the cheering has stopped. My life and our childrens lives became a living hell because of the way alcohol became his medication for a disease that had its roots in the scores of concussions he suffered on the football field. His helmet-to-helmet collisions opened the door to brain trauma that impacted his thought processes, accelerated his physical deterioration, and altered his personality. In the end, we realized that football had cost him everythinghis life, his relationship with me, and his family.