May 27, 2022 • 49 mins
After years of suffering physically and mentally, the beloved NFL legend found his unique path back to a healthy and fulfilling life, after a near death experience provided an epiphany.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Get ready for a comeback story. It's one you haven't
heard before because it's unique. It's about a man who
was in deep trouble physically, psychologically, emotionally, and after years
of suffering, he found his path back to a healthy,
fulfilling life only after a near death experience provided an epiphany.
(00:21):
Bernie Kozar was a beloved NFL veteran, mostly with the Browns.
He later won a Super Bowl ring with the Cowboys
and held two passing records, but stood for about three
decades before they were broken by Tom Brady. Bernie also
quarterback the Miami Hurricanes to a stunning national championship back
in eighty three. Now Bernie credits his dramatic return to
(00:43):
health to a regiment that is holistic, natural, and unconventional.
None of those methods are endorsed by this podcast, at
the exclusion of modern medicine, I have not used them.
If they interest you, the information is easily searched. It
seems wise to make your health choices based on your
instincts and people you trust. Bernie is not endorsing any
(01:06):
companies or products are selling anything except hope, and that
he says has become a responsibility. So Bernie, I'm so
grateful for your time and willingness to tell your story.
We were at a scrimmage University of Miami, your alma mater,
of course, watching them practice, making small talk as you
do in a practice. I'm asking you about Tyler Van Dyke,
(01:28):
the Hurricanes quarterback, and then I stopped and say, hey, so,
how you doing? Like what you've been up to? And
little did I know You're gonna tell me this incredible
comeback story, and that's what we're here to talk about.
But can you describe the difference between where you are
now looking and send and so healthy and where you
were when you began this comeback journey? Well, Chris, great
(01:51):
to be with you today, and absolutely after you asked
that that nice question with such genuineness, I'm so happy
that you actually still consider me friends and you actually
called me back and stuff because you got way, you
got a way longer winded answers, and I think you
envisioned uh envisioned when we talked. We started talking about
(02:13):
it as we were watching Tyler at the U start
making making some amazing plays with the coach Cristo bal
abound there. But I'm so glad that I got that answer.
I'm so glad the answer was way more involved than
I thought it was gonna be. Well, you know, thanks,
And as I as, I'm really getting into the late
third quarter, early fourth quarter of my life, and you
(02:35):
kind of reflect back on really where you're at, what
you've done, UM, and you think back with just as
a ex football player finance economics major at the University
of Miami, and you start doing the math on almost
forty surgeries, probably broken bones, UM, probably over a hundred concussions.
(02:56):
Started having UH seizures at fourteen and fifteen season years,
of which the last couple of seizure size in a
coma for seventy two and ninety six hours. UM, Chris,
as I punished you on the sidelines of the game,
and as we were talking, UM, if that would have
been five years ago when we were talking, I was
quite a few ho hoes north of three pounds. UM.
(03:19):
My ability to articulate, enunciate, communicate really any multiple syllable
words was what was negligible, UM, being almost four four
and a half years ago to to be diagnosed from
doctors to say five years left the cognitive brain function
and to really not even be able to say cognitive
(03:41):
nor understand what cognitive meant at that moment was what
was actually pretty scary. And when you're when you're dealing
with those type of issues and and you're really trying
to get yourself out of it, UM I found I
found that UM I wasn't having much success, and no
disrespect and no disrespect to the doctors and some of
(04:03):
the treatments that I've received, not even from the NFL
in terms of some of the treatments that UM. Probably
they that definitely did not help UM and probably took
you down a pathway of of of of issues with it.
But I'm kind of proud to myself when you're in
(04:24):
that situation UM too, especially that last seizure. UM. You know,
I'm coming in it's the fourth day, you're out for
almost ninety six hours, and the doctors come in and
they say, hey, you're really a tough guy. You're doing good.
Keep up with your protocols, keep up with your medicine.
And I'm like thinking to myself, God, I think this
(04:45):
is what's killing me. I mean, that's what's in cabining
me here. Since I retired in UM, I've been on
four or five high blood pressure fills, three or four
cholesterol pills, three or four anti information pills. I mean
starting your day with all most a dozen pills a
day um, for this entire century before. And that's not
(05:06):
even counting all the pain medications and sleeping pills and
depression type medicines that you get going with and you're
in still an excessive pain, you're not sleeping, and your
emotional mood swings are really scary. So as a as
a man suffering through that type stuff, trying to figure
out and hoping that there was a pathway, some type
(05:29):
of hope, some type of treatment for me, and I
wasn't finding much success so myself. But when you're at
kind of that crossroads, UM, I kind of I went
down a pathway of myself and trying to find some
answers myself to UM find my own healing. And I'm
really proud now to be here, UM almost four and
(05:50):
a half five years later, UM, to not have been
having any seizures, to not have to have taken any
pills or medication pill wise, and almost four years too,
to have lost a hundred pounds, to be able to articulate, enunciate,
communicating multiple syllable words is something that UM, it's getting
(06:11):
it's almost life changing, and it's stuff as you know,
you and me were talking about that day. UM. As
older men, UM, you want to have that era of
always having a game plan, always having the answers, always
being right, always being in control, always being able to
lead and help others. But in reality, UM, it's tough
(06:34):
for us to admit that our bodies are deteriorating. We
don't have all the answers. UM. Sometimes we need others
to help us. And when you're able to, UM, maybe
admit some of your weaknesses, some of your issues. I
think that's kind of one of the first pathways towards
maybe getting yourself healing and getting yourself in a better way.
(06:55):
So one of the things I've been able to I'm
proud to be able to do. And again it's it's
You've heard me say, I'm not overly proud sometimes to
talk about some of those things in my past, but
I'm really proud about overcoming some of those issues. Even
if you're Delta bad hand and you're Delta tough situation, somehow,
some way, the old Jimmy Johnson mine, somehow, some way
(07:19):
find a way to make a difference, get things better.
And it started with myself and finding out how I
could heal myself and proudly to be able to sit
here and and feel thousand percent better than I did
multiple years ago. It's almost now a responsibility, I think,
to talk to some of my other brothers in the
(07:41):
league that have gone through even more issues than myself
and show that and let them know that there, hey,
there is some hope out there. There isn't an opportunity
to maybe work on yourself from a holistic standpoint, that
um um that gives you light at the end of
the tunnel, Well, we'll certainly open up a lot of
the things you just touched on there. This is not
(08:01):
a story about weakness, is a story about strength, and
you have every right to be proud of what you've
done on so many levels. And the message you can
deliver to as you call them, your brothers in the NFL,
will get to all of that stuff, including um, the
low point, the moment of truth when you had to
sort of take charge of your own health. But when
(08:21):
you reeled off Bernie, when you reeled off the hose stats,
all the injuries, all the surgeries, you said, a hundred concussions,
you tell me before maybe what fifteen or twenty of
those have been full knockout concussions, which is which is
a shocking number. When when when when you reel that off,
I mean, that's you, that's your body, that's all the
(08:42):
pain and all the uncertainty, and all the work and
all the rehab and all the pills. Do you have
to detach from that? I mean, is that? Does it
seem real? When you describe what you've been through as
a result of football? You know what it's almost like
when you're laying in the hospital bed in a coma
and you almost still up almost an out of body
(09:03):
experience to your various stute point, Sometimes you do have
to detach yourself from the emotion or the pain at
times of what you're going through. At least I did
to try to objectively be able to come to an
understanding and come to an idea of um finding a
pathway of something that absolutely could be successful or helpful
(09:27):
for myself. I was absolutely a challenge. But the question
is why, why why go on? I mean, what you
were going through that how many times do you contemplate
ending your career just saying, hey that this is what
am I doing here? I mean, after after beating, after peating,
an operation after operation. Obviously you love the game. Growing
up in Northeast Ohio, Youngstown, it's in your blood. But
(09:48):
that had to be some some soul searching at some point. Yeah,
you know the soul searching part as a again, as
a as a little boy who grew up in Youngstown, Ohio,
halfway between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, in a in a steel
industry and manufacturing type town. In the fifties, sixties, early seventies,
it was one of the greatest places economically to be. Unfortunately,
(10:11):
by the late seventies and early eighties, the mills and
the still most the manufacturing jobs dissipated here in our
country and for sure in our region. So the inability
for um, a lot of families to have some success um,
to to maybe better themselves, to go to college, to
get to grieves, um, to find um your life's work
(10:35):
was really challenging back then. And sports in young So
Ohio it was really the only vehicle to help get
yourself to maybe better yourself slash and are better better
your family. So UM to play sports UM kind of
as a way to take care of your family, to
take care of yourself is really one of the really
(10:56):
kind of few options you had, so kind of going
through kind of going through that UM almost forced you
to do it. And Christially, almost the majority of UM,
the majority of the surgeries and the majority of what
you really realize UM of the pain and the challenges
of it actually wasn't as much when you were playing UM.
(11:20):
It's the most of the surgeries came post playing UM.
Most of the UM physical therapy, rehab, pain medications UM
we're post were post playing days. UM. A lot of
this I hadn't really UM. A lot of situations where
some I had some good influences that gave me some
(11:41):
good advice to plant it, some good seeds as the
things maybe you should do and something's just as important
maybe you shouldn't do. So to be able to have
some good, good direction at times UM, to to start
at least knowing that you've got to figure out your
own pathway of a holistic medicine kind of gave me
the empathus to UM impetus last maybe desperation of laying
(12:07):
there UM when you're having that last seizure like that yeah,
I mean, you've gone there now. So let's let's go
back to the moment that you've described as having your
your last seizure. We talked earlier you were you know,
should I change that and say hopefully my last? Yes? Okay,
well we're gonna call it your last see your most
recent seizure if you want to be clinically correct here.
(12:29):
But so listen, you you're you're flying around, you're still active,
You're you're actually doing some work trying to help the
NFL understand the concussion issue. You're in o Hare Airport,
you have this seizure and you said it was, you know,
four and a half days later you regained consciousness and
a doctor is saying, hey, let's get back at it.
Same old, same old, conventional therapy. Keep And you told me, Bernie,
(12:52):
at that moment you had a realization and that only
came because during that coma, during that of time, it
was it was a period of dramatic learning for you,
which is quite a powerful thing to describe. Yeah, you know,
as as you're saying that, the the the emotions um
(13:13):
are really really go through your um. From from that perspective,
the um when you're when you're laying there. When you're
laying there in the hospital like that, and you m
you're in your fourth fourth day and the doct does
come in and say, keep up with the protocols, keep
up with the pain medications, keep up up with with
(13:35):
all that you um, UM, you really have a lot
of UM. At least myself, I had a lot of
real almost depressed because you knew, you knew that wasn't
the pathway, uh to working at it, and you're actually
really scared because you don't. I hadn't yet attempted to
(13:57):
do to do um my holistic protocols. I wasn't convinced,
you know that they were going to work. UM. But
to see yourself, to be to know you're you're laying
there in bed yet, to fill your presence, to fill
your body, your spirit, to not be in in your body,
and to be kind of almost looking at yourself, UM,
(14:20):
to have you have decisions to make. And I really
felt I had decisions that I had to make and
that I was being almost shown shown some things of
of what's happening with me, and almost a decision type
of uh opportunity decision was put in front of me
(14:40):
that UM you know bluntly was was scary at the time,
but when you do what I I it was meditating
and thinking through it, and it almost as you're you're
asking me now, and as I'm almost kind of put
myself back in that spot to to see how you
(15:01):
are almost given a message um U two and the
message of decision to be made. Um almost coaching you
up like my old coaches, to show you a pathway
only only to help myself, but to help others now.
And when I came out and came out of that
a coma, it's almost like, um, um, I saw myself
(15:23):
coming back into my body, UM. And I knew that
I had this mission, I had this passion, I have
this responsibility of of of knowledge that UM I wanted
to go explore. And when the almost at that time,
the doc comes in and says, hey, keep up with
those protocols. You're doing good, and it's almost like I was.
(15:44):
I just had this conversation with myself or was pulled
that that's not the pathway. And you know I started, um,
you know, as you and me have been talking, you know,
off air and stuff. I started going down this holistic
pathway because the juice, Yeah, V therapy, They let's let's
let's start with that path because you're you're making it
(16:05):
aparture a decision that stepping away from conventional medicine. We
all have to trust doctors to varying degrees in our life,
but you trusted yourself more. You trusted the voice that
came to you. So you launch into something which is exciting.
It could be energizing, but also because it's uncertain, it
could be a little scary. What were those first steps
(16:25):
like when you tried to figure out what can I do?
That's quote unquote holistic, not f d a proof, not
tried and true, but feels right to me. What were
the first steps when I was laying in that hospital,
but there I knew that the NFL and the old
teams I played for, they aren't going to help us.
And this is not to pick on the league, it's
(16:46):
not to pick on my old team and something. But
the realization that they aren't going to help and that
I'm going to die and I think I just died
a couple of days earlier, that if I don't figure
this out, if I don't take it into my own hands,
and that kind of um UM, that kind of decision
that was almost freeing of me, because there is parts
(17:08):
of us as players, as older guys that want to
be helped. You know, we say we want to do
it ourselves. We are kind of looking for help, We're
looking for direction. We're looking for the team, the league,
the docs to give us that answer, UM, to really
relieve us from the pain, the uncertainty, the damage that's
(17:29):
going on within us. UM during that last tacoma, that
was the real realization that that wasn't gonna happen. And
I don't harbor any animosity towards any of the people
I was just talking about. I just knew that for
me to be healthy, to be alive, to to have
a positive difference in people's lives and my own children's lives,
(17:52):
to be there to walk my daughters down the aisle,
I needed to make a concerted change and I needed
to figure uh figure this out. And that's when I
really um knew that I had to had to find
this and that's when I organically, UM from an organic
wellness standpoint, UM, made this life changing decisions. You talked,
(18:14):
you've listed food as being a key component. Food is
your medicine. You mentioned I V used I V therapy
for vitamins because it's more efficient than pills. You also
found something called Rick Simpson oil sometimes known as R
s O. Folks can search it. It's a cannabinoid oil.
It's a it's a full spectrum extract. It's powerful, it
(18:35):
has high th HC. What role did that oil play
on you? Because claims have been made that including by
the creator of it, that it cured his cancer. It's
it's not an approved um therapy by a lot of
conventional medicine, and people should do their own research. But
what effect did it have on you? Bernie? What role
did did did R s O play in your recovery? Well? You, uh, Chris,
(18:59):
one of the one of the things that's um um
the food is your medicine. As a inbred Slovak who
grew up on cabasi and parogis for breakfast, that is
not the breakfast the champions. Okay, so um and I
love my mother and I love my heritage and they're
the best cooks in the world. But um for long
(19:20):
term living and to make it past retirement age, Okay,
I had to find another another way of eating. So yeah,
I became a big juicer um, water based, vegetable based
um as absolutely as you astuteley said, food is your medicine,
and then IVY therapy as has been a major influence
(19:41):
for me. If if we take a vitamin A supplement,
a pill eight to twelve absorbed into the cell and
cell membrane from an IVY component. UM, I know, none
of us, like needles, we all say we don't want
to do that, but from an IVY perspective, UM, me
and you are old enough to have said, we grew
up on hearing the commercial one a day vitamin. Like
(20:03):
we said, that absorbed into your cell and cell membrane.
But basically those components of the one a day vitamin,
the vitamin sees the magnesiums, the zincs to be complexes.
You're optimizing your d levels of that gets into your
your bloodstream when you do it from an IVY perspective,
so those are the two very important components of it.
(20:28):
But after all those years, uh, and I say this,
since two thousand and eighteen, really this whole century, mom
third decade of doing way too much medication. The food
is your medicine, deducing the IVY therapy and then um,
the the Rick Simpson oil UM and from the cannabis
(20:51):
CBD th C component of it, there there is a
real I believe at least a real medicinal realdinal anti
inflammation principles that happened in the CBD cannabis world, and
that of building the combination of those three in Christian medicine,
(21:12):
the Rick Simpson oil and RSO UM which Rick Simpson
was a man who had cancer UM who instead of
doing chemotherapy he went down the whole list of path
of doing that and found amazing results with that. I'm
not here today making UM doctor claims from that standpoint,
(21:32):
but it's also Chris was UM the the RSO the
medicinal benefits of being able to take people that are
UM doing too many pills, whether again with all the
pain medications, depression type medicines UM UM sleeping type medicines
(21:52):
that really weren't working. I was still in pain and
still not sleeping. To be able to get yourself off
of that with UM food I V S and then
are the the RSO the oil from the medicinal standpoint, UM,
it was absolutely game changing for me and for me
then to be able then to from a UM UM
(22:16):
work or chemistry standpoint, be able now to break up
UM in a couple of a couple of the research
people I work with, to be able not to break
out the UM psychoactivity and some of the UH and
some of the canniboids absolutely being game changing now to
be able to medicinely heal UM people. And it's absolutely
(22:40):
healed myself, and it was I've been paying attention to
this UM probably for half dozen years. I started it
myself four and a half years ago, and the combination
of all of that has been so game changing to me.
Besides UM losing go over a hundred pounds and and
(23:01):
slowing down at least, the deterioration and the inability to
articulate and enunciate communicate from from the predimensia standpoint has
really been game changing, game changing with that yeh, Tobacca,
you said it quickly, but that what a terrifying thing
when when doctors say you have about five years left
of cognitive ability predimensia early onset Parkinson's. I mean, these
(23:26):
are all things right that that you were facing that
you have halted and dramatically reverse in a pretty short
amount of time, Bernie, I mean that's it's pretty breathtaking
and you should be incredibly proud of that. Well, thanks, Chris.
If even from the articulation communication, ability to enunciate words
(23:47):
just bluntly remembering that you and me are what we're
talking about, being able to stay on task and to
make points. If you and may would have been doing
this conversation or been on the sidelines of a UM
game five years ago, it would have been a brief conversation.
I'm not sure you would have even wanted me to
to um UM to be on one of your telecasts
(24:09):
like that. You know, pain killers are constant companions of athletes,
particularly football players at different levels. You talked about having
takes so many daily pills. How would you describe Bernie
your relationship with I mean, these are powerful pain killers, OPI.
It's how how at the lowest point, where were you
(24:30):
with those Well, from a from a standpoint of if
you just go back to the late nineties, early two thousands,
we were flat out preached to that it's not addictive
and it's not psychoactive, like we know that today in
two thousand and twenty two. We've probably known that for
the last few years, but ten to fifteen years ago.
(24:52):
First sure, twenty and twenty five years ago, we were
preached to that this is not psychoactive and that it's
not addictive. So those first you know, being able to
even realize that that's happened to you, UM was was
was Matt was a massive issue from from that perspective
(25:13):
with it. Will you begin the process and now you're
you're off of the painkillers and you're doing your holistic approach,
but still as hopeful as you want to be, as
much as you're trusting your instincts and trusting these new
people you're talking to you don't really know. But then
you begin to see improvement, You begin to see positives
that what was that like when you realized, ho, shit,
(25:37):
I might actually have another path to take here because
I'm getting progress in this area. Great, great question, Chris.
And just just like the enthusiasm and your voice with it,
that enthusiasm with me, um happened within a week or
two coming out of coming out of that coma, and
(25:57):
that that fastest results. And a lot of people say like, oh,
you've got great self discipline where you're an athlete, you're tough,
you know how to abstain or just change and do this.
One of the beautiful things about the food is your medicine,
the IVY therapy and the medicinal effects of the oil
(26:18):
and the Rick Simpson's oil. And for people out there,
not all stuff is made the same, so it's not
all the same things, so you may not derive the
same results just by picking something off to the street
um or at at a dispense. That's a generic term.
Rs is a generic term. It's made lots of different
(26:40):
companies in different ways, and you should definitely, definitely do
due diligence and research that if we're even considering it.
I yeah, and absolutely the same on that with your
IVY therapy. Not all ivys, not all vitamins are the same,
just like not all food is the same, so you
absolutely need to kind of research it out there. A
(27:02):
lot of people have asked me, like, how come I'm
not um selling my juice recipes, how come I'm not
selling ivy therapy, how come I'm not selling the rs
SO and the cbd s and the cbns that go
along with that. And maybe someday I will, but like
right now, I did not want and even today, you know,
(27:22):
we have talked about this off. I didn't know want.
I really wanted to help myself. I really feel a
responsibility and calling to help others with this so too.
I didn't want to make this about um um, a
P and L or a business statement. You know, I'm
not trying to sell you IVY therapy. I'm not trying
(27:43):
to sell you anybody RSO or CBD today. I'm just
relaying the my story about what I went through and
how I'm able to get better with this. So. I
don't have an economic motive for for even saying the
I vs. The food the rs SO, but that and
that makes it more powerful and honest and compelling. I
get that. So when you're having having results though, you're
(28:06):
starting to get positive steps, how are you feeling and
what are people say? Yeah, so, Chris, That's what I
wanted to say for some of the people listening out there.
You know, if you if you're dependent on alcohol, you
know that you are you dependent on opiates, you know
you can't just stop. You know you're getting nervous about that.
There's a physical, physical reactions that happens with things like
(28:30):
that that that creates a lot of anxiety and a
lot of physical issues. To be in and around other people.
And then so that first week or so, it's amazing
how you're able to physically detox people's bodies, and when
they're physically detox um, you're able to um more rashly
(28:51):
understand um kind of your situation. But what we found
after a couple of weeks of of doing this, and
this isn't a pit to say, hey, just do this
for two weeks and your whole life's going to um
change and you go back to where you're living. But
what I found was, after doing this for a couple
of weeks, it felt you could see light at the
(29:13):
end of the tunnel. And this will sound like I'm
making a claim for this, but it really was that
this was the game changing part for me is I
don't have to not drink right now nor take pills
because I'm tough and self discipline when you do this.
When I did this detox and I did this cleanse
(29:35):
um holistically and organically, Chris, it ended up almost resetting
my brain. So my brain doesn't really ask for that
type stuff. And if you are a person who drinks
too much, a person who's taking pills opiates, in particularly
the mental illness pills, the the the adderalls, the depression
(29:58):
type medicine, the sleeping pill is you almost start asking
for it when you don't take them. What I found
when I started doing this treatment with the changing of
the diet, the I V S and the oils was
it did a beautiful reset of my brain and people's
brains to to actually help me with my articulation, enunciation,
(30:20):
and communication. But it also took away that urge and
that that dem in your head that says, hey, at
happy hour today, let's go have a drink, that that
that that voice in my head doesn't talk to me.
And I found that to be a pretty consistent theme
with a lot of people that I've been able to
help share this message with. Yeah, I know, we want
(30:41):
to be careful. The message here is not throw away
your medicines, forget conventional wisdom, don't listen to your doctors.
That's those are decisions everyone has to make on their own.
You're saying what worked for you, and you were a
very m low place, and I think anybody who's in
a crisis situation has to take suck and make their
own choice based on the people around them that they trust. Etcetera.
But I know you're careful to say this is what
(31:03):
worked for you, and you made dramatic and quick progress.
Was there a moment, Bernie when you realized, Wow, I
just put together through or four big words in a
sentence and I haven't done that in a long time,
and I didn't know if I ever would be able
to and kind of a real turning point that you
can recall. Yeah, Chris, you know what it's it's been.
(31:27):
It's it's been really um those type of points happened
so much at that first month to three months that
and it had been you know, I'm saying five years,
but probably longer because I think people, you know, weren't
really telling you and you weren't really paying attention to
(31:48):
to yourself as to uh, how you sounded and how
you acted. But that was that was something that really
after after like a month or so, I'm in here
saying to myself, God, this is like a second chance
in life. And you know the the U I said
it earlier late third quarter or early fourth quarter of
(32:10):
my life. But I feel like I've been given these
gifts or shown these gifts and been given a second chance,
and so so many of us here in this world
deserve a second chance. And and when you when you're
able to honestly kind of assess where you're at and
openly look at yourself and say, hey, um, I'm proud
(32:31):
of me. Yeah, I made some mistakes back my past,
and then instead of sweeping under the table, I actually
want to embrace them and learn from them and just
make sure I don't make them again. And I really
feel like that's kind of the pathway that I've been
learning learning on. Yeah, the honesty that you've shown, the
bravery and facing mistakes in being vulnerable. I mean, if
(32:53):
people remember it was a decade ago broke, you were
talking about a very different situation, but a very difficult
situation in your life. If you were to to look
back at at you, you know, on tape from that
versus today, I mean, anybody will be startled. What what
kind of feelings do you get when you when you
see that this was just ten years ago? Yeah, you know,
(33:16):
when you look at some of those thirty thirties like
um with the great Mark Schwarts who did a couple
with me and uh Billy Corbyn, Um with the University
of Miami, and you look at some of those where, um,
most of what you filmed of me, most of what
you edited, most of what we talked about, was not
usable because I was so inarticulate, it was so challenged,
(33:41):
And I actually thought I was in decent shape when
I did those. Actually was proud of me then saying, God,
I'm really better when I did those interviews, and I
was the previous year, and I look at those now
and I'm like, jeez, how did I even make it
past the final editing of that? And and is something
that maybe you were embarrassed stuff um or scared of
(34:02):
because you were trying to do your best and you
don't know even um what your future lies, was lies
in store for you, or how to get yourself better?
So um, to to figure that out and then to
have yourself actually feeling better was this Just can't thank
God enough for that, for that, for that gift. You
(34:25):
said you feel a responsibility to share your story and
offer suggestions, not not not heavy handedly, but offer ideas
for for your brothers. You calling your brothers in the NFL. Well,
really it extends, as you know, to a lot of
middle aged guys, but guys who have been through a
tough demanding job like playing NFL football, and take me
(34:48):
through kind of your thought process and where where you
are now trying to share your experience with those guys. Yeah,
well you know Chris and from our NFL brothers out there, Um,
we we have been through a lot. But even for
guys who haven't played, Um, you and me, we're talking
about you know, as we get into our fifties, as
(35:10):
as older men, we are wanting to be leaders who
want to be heads of our family. We want to
know all the answers who want to be that wise, profound,
um leaders person. And the reality is all of our
bodies are breaking at this age. I'm not just a
football players. So for my brothers in the league and
(35:32):
for all of us guys, it's okay to say that
we're not perfect and we're breaking down a little bit.
And it's a little as I find it almost funny
slash sad funny that so many of us guys have
trouble admitting that we're not perfect and that we're breaking down.
What's the value Bernie and facing that admitting that hey,
(35:55):
we're not as strong and fast as we used to be,
and to admit you're slowing down and face it. What's
the You know why, I believe because I don't think
you could really address and fix an issue until you
really admit there is the issue. So you know, it's
one thing to say, hey, Chris follower should work on this.
I'm not Chris, I'm Burnie. But um for Bernie to say, hey,
(36:17):
Bernie needs to work on this. Burnie has this issue.
And so many guys that don't think we don't want
to admit what our issue is. And when you admit,
but maybe my limitations or my weaknesses are, or my
things that I could do better are, that's that's the
first step towards your pathway of of correcting that issue.
To what degree is football responsible for your situation? And
(36:42):
and despite the love you had for the game from
a very young age, when you say, look what football,
you know did to your mind and body, look at
the position that put you in. How do you wrestle
with that? If you do, I reconcile it um. Again,
This isn't to pick on the old teams. This isn't
a pick on the NFL. This isn't a position myself
(37:05):
for any of those concussion litigations or disability insurance things
that they run a sex players through that ultimately don't
really bear bear fruit and anything other than putting you
on more planes that put you at risk procedures and
O'Hare airport. Um, but I was I. I think I
(37:25):
joked on air before or off air before we started,
and I was so excited that my son when he
stopped playing football, because um, he doesn't have to. I
don't want to see him go through a lot of
these issues that paying the broken bones, the head issues
that that his dad had to go through. But I
(37:46):
don't say that from a what was me standpoint, And Chris,
I think ultimately to what your question was, I actually,
I'm so so proud and happy that I did this,
that played football, And actually I'm not a masochist. I'm
not too demented. I believe UM probably been hitting the
head too much to think like this, But I'm really
actually glad it happened. And I actually believe it happened
(38:08):
for a reason because if I didn't go through all this,
if I didn't have all those injuries, if I didn't
um have the issues that happened, I would have been
so easy. I wouldn't have I wouldn't been able to
determine figure out really helped develop this pathway of holistic
wellness and healthy living that actually a fifty eight years
old has me feeling better today than I did it
(38:30):
at forty eight. So UM, I'm actually glad it happened.
I'm super happy I played. I don't regret it to
the point because I wouldn't be able to have learned
this stuff if my body didn't go through all those
forty su surgeries and semi eighty broken bones, all those concussions.
I don't think, I I know, I wouldn't have had
the spirit, the the energy, the focus to attack this
(38:55):
issue selfishly, probably for myself so that I could be here,
but now for my brothers and for for guys from
across the country. This is this is really for people
at UM a lifestyle now that I really believe UM
is a pathway to real happiness and some of this
stuff that you know, uh, I've been talking so much about,
(39:17):
like what's been happening in society. You know, we've had
this virus the last couple of years, we had we
had those issues with January six, the extremists that's going on.
Whether you're a d or in our black or white,
the virus, staying in, staying out. We saw what happened
in in Buffalo just this past week, We're watching what's
(39:38):
happening in Ukraine. I mean, this is extremism that's going
out there in society. UM. This is now almost a
situation now where whether it's UM US, athletes, celebrities of
people that haven't have a platform. Now, I really believe
it's almost the responsibility of us to get out there
and let cooler heads but sure heads prevail, and to
(40:02):
be able to to have a genuine care again back
to the you matter, why we care about people as UM.
Now is a situation where there's such extreme almost hostility
towards so many people that being able to show genuine
caring and genuine love and genuinely want to see you
(40:22):
do good just for the sake of you're doing good.
I think that spirit is so essentially needed within our
country and within our world right now. Now, you said, well,
there are massive problems that are very difficult, if not
nearly impossible, to solve on many levels, seemingly, yet it
does start with an individual. If you start by improving yourself,
(40:43):
if you start by wanting to improve the others around you.
That is something that is something you can control in
a world where so much feels uncontrollable. So you sound
pretty charged up about where you are despite being in
a troubled world. Uh and each day, I mean, what
how would you characterized sort of you know this this
current chapter in your life is it? Is it a
(41:06):
new lease? How do you describe where you are at
fifty eight now? Well, you know what, it's absolutely a
new lease, a second chance, a responsibility to to really share,
share this message, share this passion, share these gifts. Um.
You know, I I say for our brothers in the league,
(41:29):
but it's really for all of us right now. And
you know as as um, so for me, you know,
really wanting to be around people and our companies you
know that are really socially and environmentally conscious, you know
that are really dedicated to improving the health and wellness
of people, families and communities on our planet. Um. That
(41:51):
type of genuine giving back and that type of genuine
help right now is something that you know, as I'm
I said a couple of times on on the on
the called here today as I get into the early
fourth quarter light third quarter of my life is something
that I'm really committed to do and I'm super proud
to be doing. What has you most excited? What? What?
(42:12):
What do you see as of course sort of a
specific purpose? Um, you know going forward if you're in
the fourth quarter, man, I hope you have double overtime.
I mean, let's not let's not worry about the clock
ticket just yet. The way you're doing right now, and
you've defied so many experts opinions, we could be sitting
here in ten twenty years having a conversation like this hopefully. Well,
you know, the the human body, the human body, and
(42:34):
the organs to live to be a hundred and twenty
a hundred and thirty years old, carried away, getting the
getting the toxins out of our environment, getting the toxins,
flushing it out of our body is absolutely a prerequisite
to trying to hit that centennial, that centennial number. Wow,
that's that's a great thing. And I think that if
(42:57):
it took um all those broken bones and all those
surgeries and all those pills and all that fear and
uncertainty and a near death experience to get you here,
then that's what it took. But yeah, I thank god
you got there and I was I went, I never
(43:17):
really I've been through stages in life of the roller
coaster and stuff. They're always wanting to be positive and
and try to again as as I talked to Or
of trying to always turn a negative situation into a
positive situation. UM. Having some of those injuries, having the concussions,
(43:38):
having the coma, having again those surgeries, UM, I actually
look at that as a blessing because I wouldn't have
been able to understand, UM this pathway, and I wouldn't
have been able to have the courage, I think to
to try some of these newer UM To me, they
don't seem speculative today, although when I was doing them
(43:58):
four or five, six years that they probably seemed like
I was reaching and speculative move. But you know, today,
to be able to have done that, I really believe
it's I've been put on this earth for kind of
that pathway. But there are still skeptics. What do you
run up against in terms of people saying add that,
come on, Bernie, you whore? You kidding? That's not going
(44:19):
to work. Yeah, you know what, Chris. Unfortunately I wish
I could disagree with you, but unfortunately you're right, Um,
there there are quite a few people. And that's kind
of why also I haven't overly talked about it, and
why it really hasn't been a business part of mine,
because when you start, if I was selling you the food,
(44:42):
the I V s or the the th HC CBD oils,
people tend to say, oh, you're you're you're biased towards that.
You're you're just trying to do it from a business perspective. So, UM,
I haven't been doing it from that perspective. A matter
of fact, it tends to be the people who UM
ask me these questions, um, mainly because they're almost desperate
(45:05):
themselves and and so I for sometimes the people who
look at me with a john decide or Um, I
think I'm embellishing or making up the issues. I wish
I was making up the issues. I wish I was
embellishing some of the stuff that I had to go through.
But um, when I uh, that happens, and I uh,
(45:27):
you prefer it not to happen. But the positive feelings
you get when you see the difference in the people
that I've been able to drastically change their lives and
see that they have a second chance. They have an
ability now to go back to leading their families, being
productive in society. It's it's game changing for me personally. Well,
(45:52):
that chance conversation where I ask you how you were
the most inane question, most innocuous, when you can possibly
ask somebody and where you have related to your story,
I mean I would never have known. And I'm sure
people say this, Uh had you not described where you
were and how low you got? Uh that you had
been all through that hearing you now because I was
(46:12):
your your your brain was always your best weapon as
a quarterball cerebral quarterback. It was it was your mind
that really got you through. You weren't the fastest guy.
That's why you got hit so many times. I had
so many concussions. But to have that part Bernie come
back together, have everything firing, to see you smiling right now,
I mean it makes the many many millions of fancy
years feel good. Well, thanks for all the younger viewers
(46:34):
or listeners out there. I don't want to do too
much truth serum, but for a guy who ran a
five five forty and had his chest and mentally, I
had to be major league cognizant of my head. And
keep my brain in in uh, in working order, because
my physical abilities weren't going to get me through and
(46:56):
that and that again was probably something that I that
I'm proud that to have had that issue, because I
don't think I would have Yeah, I'm not a massocrest,
but I don't think I would have been as injured
as much and then wouldn't have been able to kind
of learn some of these life lessons that thankfully I survived.
I think I survived him and now I'm able to
(47:18):
start passing him on to other people. And you know,
we had said earlier, what's happening in society, what's happened
with the virus, what's happening with mental illness and depression
and the need for mental wellness now and your physical
body is absolutely connected to your your physics, your mental
wellness to um, the last couple of years have made me. Besides,
(47:42):
I've gotten better and healthier. Um, what's happened around us
in society has made it almost essential that even if
people look at me with a little bit of a
john decide with it. I know there are a lot
of people that are looking at it and getting relief
from it and finding ways to um get their second
chance of life. You know, when you ask an old acquaintance,
(48:03):
how are you, what have you been up to? You
just might be shocked and inspired by their answer. I'm
certainly grateful I asked Bernie of those questions at the
practice field of his alma mater. There was so much
more to Bernie's story, so many twists and turns that
we can cover in one podcast. It ought to be
made into a movie. I would buy a ticket again.
(48:25):
I want to emphasize that swearing off medications and using
alternative approaches are serious decisions. It worked for Bernie, but
they should be made after research and thought and conversations
with people that you trust. This wraps up season four
of Power Who You Got? My co executive producer Jennifer
(48:45):
Dempster and editor Jason white Hilt, and I certainly grateful
for your interest and support and the growth of this podcast.
There are plenty of great episodes archives for you to
check out. We'll go in our usual summer hiatus and
then come back with more new episodes. I'll talk to
it then and I'll see it from Wimbledon
Get ready for a comeback story. It's one you haven't
heard before because it's unique. It's about a man who
was in deep trouble physically, psychologically, emotionally, and after years
of suffering, he found his path back to a healthy,
fulfilling life only after a near death experience provided an epiphany.
(00:21):
Bernie Kozar was a beloved NFL veteran, mostly with the Browns.
He later won a Super Bowl ring with the Cowboys
and held two passing records, but stood for about three
decades before they were broken by Tom Brady. Bernie also
quarterback the Miami Hurricanes to a stunning national championship back
in eighty three. Now Bernie credits his dramatic return to
(00:43):
health to a regiment that is holistic, natural, and unconventional.
None of those methods are endorsed by this podcast, at
the exclusion of modern medicine, I have not used them.
If they interest you, the information is easily searched. It
seems wise to make your health choices based on your
instincts and people you trust. Bernie is not endorsing any
(01:06):
companies or products are selling anything except hope, and that
he says has become a responsibility. So Bernie, I'm so
grateful for your time and willingness to tell your story.
We were at a scrimmage University of Miami, your alma mater,
of course, watching them practice, making small talk as you
do in a practice. I'm asking you about Tyler Van Dyke,
(01:28):
the Hurricanes quarterback, and then I stopped and say, hey, so,
how you doing? Like what you've been up to? And
little did I know You're gonna tell me this incredible
comeback story, and that's what we're here to talk about.
But can you describe the difference between where you are
now looking and send and so healthy and where you
were when you began this comeback journey? Well, Chris, great
(01:51):
to be with you today, and absolutely after you asked
that that nice question with such genuineness, I'm so happy
that you actually still consider me friends and you actually
called me back and stuff because you got way, you
got a way longer winded answers, and I think you
envisioned uh envisioned when we talked. We started talking about
(02:13):
it as we were watching Tyler at the U start
making making some amazing plays with the coach Cristo bal
abound there. But I'm so glad that I got that answer.
I'm so glad the answer was way more involved than
I thought it was gonna be. Well, you know, thanks,
And as I as, I'm really getting into the late
third quarter, early fourth quarter of my life, and you
(02:35):
kind of reflect back on really where you're at, what
you've done, UM, and you think back with just as
a ex football player finance economics major at the University
of Miami, and you start doing the math on almost
forty surgeries, probably broken bones, UM, probably over a hundred concussions.
(02:56):
Started having UH seizures at fourteen and fifteen season years,
of which the last couple of seizure size in a
coma for seventy two and ninety six hours. UM, Chris,
as I punished you on the sidelines of the game,
and as we were talking, UM, if that would have
been five years ago when we were talking, I was
quite a few ho hoes north of three pounds. UM.
(03:19):
My ability to articulate, enunciate, communicate really any multiple syllable
words was what was negligible, UM, being almost four four
and a half years ago to to be diagnosed from
doctors to say five years left the cognitive brain function
and to really not even be able to say cognitive
(03:41):
nor understand what cognitive meant at that moment was what
was actually pretty scary. And when you're when you're dealing
with those type of issues and and you're really trying
to get yourself out of it, UM I found I
found that UM I wasn't having much success, and no
disrespect and no disrespect to the doctors and some of
(04:03):
the treatments that I've received, not even from the NFL
in terms of some of the treatments that UM. Probably
they that definitely did not help UM and probably took
you down a pathway of of of of issues with it.
But I'm kind of proud to myself when you're in
(04:24):
that situation UM too, especially that last seizure. UM. You know,
I'm coming in it's the fourth day, you're out for
almost ninety six hours, and the doctors come in and
they say, hey, you're really a tough guy. You're doing good.
Keep up with your protocols, keep up with your medicine.
And I'm like thinking to myself, God, I think this
(04:45):
is what's killing me. I mean, that's what's in cabining
me here. Since I retired in UM, I've been on
four or five high blood pressure fills, three or four
cholesterol pills, three or four anti information pills. I mean
starting your day with all most a dozen pills a
day um, for this entire century before. And that's not
(05:06):
even counting all the pain medications and sleeping pills and
depression type medicines that you get going with and you're
in still an excessive pain, you're not sleeping, and your
emotional mood swings are really scary. So as a as
a man suffering through that type stuff, trying to figure
out and hoping that there was a pathway, some type
(05:29):
of hope, some type of treatment for me, and I
wasn't finding much success so myself. But when you're at
kind of that crossroads, UM, I kind of I went
down a pathway of myself and trying to find some
answers myself to UM find my own healing. And I'm
really proud now to be here, UM almost four and
(05:50):
a half five years later, UM, to not have been
having any seizures, to not have to have taken any
pills or medication pill wise, and almost four years too,
to have lost a hundred pounds, to be able to articulate, enunciate,
communicating multiple syllable words is something that UM, it's getting
(06:11):
it's almost life changing, and it's stuff as you know,
you and me were talking about that day. UM. As
older men, UM, you want to have that era of
always having a game plan, always having the answers, always
being right, always being in control, always being able to
lead and help others. But in reality, UM, it's tough
(06:34):
for us to admit that our bodies are deteriorating. We
don't have all the answers. UM. Sometimes we need others
to help us. And when you're able to, UM, maybe
admit some of your weaknesses, some of your issues. I
think that's kind of one of the first pathways towards
maybe getting yourself healing and getting yourself in a better way.
(06:55):
So one of the things I've been able to I'm
proud to be able to do. And again it's it's
You've heard me say, I'm not overly proud sometimes to
talk about some of those things in my past, but
I'm really proud about overcoming some of those issues. Even
if you're Delta bad hand and you're Delta tough situation, somehow,
some way, the old Jimmy Johnson mine, somehow, some way
(07:19):
find a way to make a difference, get things better.
And it started with myself and finding out how I
could heal myself and proudly to be able to sit
here and and feel thousand percent better than I did
multiple years ago. It's almost now a responsibility, I think,
to talk to some of my other brothers in the
(07:41):
league that have gone through even more issues than myself
and show that and let them know that there, hey,
there is some hope out there. There isn't an opportunity
to maybe work on yourself from a holistic standpoint, that
um um that gives you light at the end of
the tunnel, Well, we'll certainly open up a lot of
the things you just touched on there. This is not
(08:01):
a story about weakness, is a story about strength, and
you have every right to be proud of what you've
done on so many levels. And the message you can
deliver to as you call them, your brothers in the NFL,
will get to all of that stuff, including um, the
low point, the moment of truth when you had to
sort of take charge of your own health. But when
(08:21):
you reeled off Bernie, when you reeled off the hose stats,
all the injuries, all the surgeries, you said, a hundred concussions,
you tell me before maybe what fifteen or twenty of
those have been full knockout concussions, which is which is
a shocking number. When when when when you reel that off,
I mean, that's you, that's your body, that's all the
(08:42):
pain and all the uncertainty, and all the work and
all the rehab and all the pills. Do you have
to detach from that? I mean, is that? Does it
seem real? When you describe what you've been through as
a result of football? You know what it's almost like
when you're laying in the hospital bed in a coma
and you almost still up almost an out of body
(09:03):
experience to your various stute point, Sometimes you do have
to detach yourself from the emotion or the pain at
times of what you're going through. At least I did
to try to objectively be able to come to an
understanding and come to an idea of um finding a
pathway of something that absolutely could be successful or helpful
(09:27):
for myself. I was absolutely a challenge. But the question
is why, why why go on? I mean, what you
were going through that how many times do you contemplate
ending your career just saying, hey that this is what
am I doing here? I mean, after after beating, after peating,
an operation after operation. Obviously you love the game. Growing
up in Northeast Ohio, Youngstown, it's in your blood. But
(09:48):
that had to be some some soul searching at some point. Yeah,
you know the soul searching part as a again, as
a as a little boy who grew up in Youngstown, Ohio,
halfway between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, in a in a steel
industry and manufacturing type town. In the fifties, sixties, early seventies,
it was one of the greatest places economically to be. Unfortunately,
(10:11):
by the late seventies and early eighties, the mills and
the still most the manufacturing jobs dissipated here in our
country and for sure in our region. So the inability
for um, a lot of families to have some success um,
to to maybe better themselves, to go to college, to
get to grieves, um, to find um your life's work
(10:35):
was really challenging back then. And sports in young So
Ohio it was really the only vehicle to help get
yourself to maybe better yourself slash and are better better
your family. So UM to play sports UM kind of
as a way to take care of your family, to
take care of yourself is really one of the really
(10:56):
kind of few options you had, so kind of going
through kind of going through that UM almost forced you
to do it. And Christially, almost the majority of UM,
the majority of the surgeries and the majority of what
you really realize UM of the pain and the challenges
of it actually wasn't as much when you were playing UM.
(11:20):
It's the most of the surgeries came post playing UM.
Most of the UM physical therapy, rehab, pain medications UM
we're post were post playing days. UM. A lot of
this I hadn't really UM. A lot of situations where
some I had some good influences that gave me some
(11:41):
good advice to plant it, some good seeds as the
things maybe you should do and something's just as important
maybe you shouldn't do. So to be able to have
some good, good direction at times UM, to to start
at least knowing that you've got to figure out your
own pathway of a holistic medicine kind of gave me
the empathus to UM impetus last maybe desperation of laying
(12:07):
there UM when you're having that last seizure like that yeah,
I mean, you've gone there now. So let's let's go
back to the moment that you've described as having your
your last seizure. We talked earlier you were you know,
should I change that and say hopefully my last? Yes? Okay,
well we're gonna call it your last see your most
recent seizure if you want to be clinically correct here.
(12:29):
But so listen, you you're you're flying around, you're still active,
You're you're actually doing some work trying to help the
NFL understand the concussion issue. You're in o Hare Airport,
you have this seizure and you said it was, you know,
four and a half days later you regained consciousness and
a doctor is saying, hey, let's get back at it.
Same old, same old, conventional therapy. Keep And you told me, Bernie,
(12:52):
at that moment you had a realization and that only
came because during that coma, during that of time, it
was it was a period of dramatic learning for you,
which is quite a powerful thing to describe. Yeah, you know,
as as you're saying that, the the the emotions um
(13:13):
are really really go through your um. From from that perspective,
the um when you're when you're laying there. When you're
laying there in the hospital like that, and you m
you're in your fourth fourth day and the doct does
come in and say, keep up with the protocols, keep
up with the pain medications, keep up up with with
(13:35):
all that you um, UM, you really have a lot
of UM. At least myself, I had a lot of
real almost depressed because you knew, you knew that wasn't
the pathway, uh to working at it, and you're actually
really scared because you don't. I hadn't yet attempted to
(13:57):
do to do um my holistic protocols. I wasn't convinced,
you know that they were going to work. UM. But
to see yourself, to be to know you're you're laying
there in bed yet, to fill your presence, to fill
your body, your spirit, to not be in in your body,
and to be kind of almost looking at yourself, UM,
(14:20):
to have you have decisions to make. And I really
felt I had decisions that I had to make and
that I was being almost shown shown some things of
of what's happening with me, and almost a decision type
of uh opportunity decision was put in front of me
(14:40):
that UM you know bluntly was was scary at the time,
but when you do what I I it was meditating
and thinking through it, and it almost as you're you're
asking me now, and as I'm almost kind of put
myself back in that spot to to see how you
(15:01):
are almost given a message um U two and the
message of decision to be made. Um almost coaching you
up like my old coaches, to show you a pathway
only only to help myself, but to help others now.
And when I came out and came out of that
a coma, it's almost like, um, um, I saw myself
(15:23):
coming back into my body, UM. And I knew that
I had this mission, I had this passion, I have
this responsibility of of of knowledge that UM I wanted
to go explore. And when the almost at that time,
the doc comes in and says, hey, keep up with
those protocols. You're doing good, and it's almost like I was.
(15:44):
I just had this conversation with myself or was pulled
that that's not the pathway. And you know I started, um,
you know, as you and me have been talking, you know,
off air and stuff. I started going down this holistic
pathway because the juice, Yeah, V therapy, They let's let's
let's start with that path because you're you're making it
(16:05):
aparture a decision that stepping away from conventional medicine. We
all have to trust doctors to varying degrees in our life,
but you trusted yourself more. You trusted the voice that
came to you. So you launch into something which is exciting.
It could be energizing, but also because it's uncertain, it
could be a little scary. What were those first steps
(16:25):
like when you tried to figure out what can I do?
That's quote unquote holistic, not f d a proof, not
tried and true, but feels right to me. What were
the first steps when I was laying in that hospital,
but there I knew that the NFL and the old
teams I played for, they aren't going to help us.
And this is not to pick on the league, it's
(16:46):
not to pick on my old team and something. But
the realization that they aren't going to help and that
I'm going to die and I think I just died
a couple of days earlier, that if I don't figure
this out, if I don't take it into my own hands,
and that kind of um UM, that kind of decision
that was almost freeing of me, because there is parts
(17:08):
of us as players, as older guys that want to
be helped. You know, we say we want to do
it ourselves. We are kind of looking for help, We're
looking for direction. We're looking for the team, the league,
the docs to give us that answer, UM, to really
relieve us from the pain, the uncertainty, the damage that's
(17:29):
going on within us. UM during that last tacoma, that
was the real realization that that wasn't gonna happen. And
I don't harbor any animosity towards any of the people
I was just talking about. I just knew that for
me to be healthy, to be alive, to to have
a positive difference in people's lives and my own children's lives,
(17:52):
to be there to walk my daughters down the aisle,
I needed to make a concerted change and I needed
to figure uh figure this out. And that's when I
really um knew that I had to had to find
this and that's when I organically, UM from an organic
wellness standpoint, UM, made this life changing decisions. You talked,
(18:14):
you've listed food as being a key component. Food is
your medicine. You mentioned I V used I V therapy
for vitamins because it's more efficient than pills. You also
found something called Rick Simpson oil sometimes known as R
s O. Folks can search it. It's a cannabinoid oil.
It's a it's a full spectrum extract. It's powerful, it
(18:35):
has high th HC. What role did that oil play
on you? Because claims have been made that including by
the creator of it, that it cured his cancer. It's
it's not an approved um therapy by a lot of
conventional medicine, and people should do their own research. But
what effect did it have on you? Bernie? What role
did did did R s O play in your recovery? Well? You, uh, Chris,
(18:59):
one of the one of the things that's um um
the food is your medicine. As a inbred Slovak who
grew up on cabasi and parogis for breakfast, that is
not the breakfast the champions. Okay, so um and I
love my mother and I love my heritage and they're
the best cooks in the world. But um for long
(19:20):
term living and to make it past retirement age, Okay,
I had to find another another way of eating. So yeah,
I became a big juicer um, water based, vegetable based
um as absolutely as you astuteley said, food is your medicine,
and then IVY therapy as has been a major influence
(19:41):
for me. If if we take a vitamin A supplement,
a pill eight to twelve absorbed into the cell and
cell membrane from an IVY component. UM, I know, none
of us, like needles, we all say we don't want
to do that, but from an IVY perspective, UM, me
and you are old enough to have said, we grew
up on hearing the commercial one a day vitamin. Like
(20:03):
we said, that absorbed into your cell and cell membrane.
But basically those components of the one a day vitamin,
the vitamin sees the magnesiums, the zincs to be complexes.
You're optimizing your d levels of that gets into your
your bloodstream when you do it from an IVY perspective,
so those are the two very important components of it.
(20:28):
But after all those years, uh, and I say this,
since two thousand and eighteen, really this whole century, mom
third decade of doing way too much medication. The food
is your medicine, deducing the IVY therapy and then um,
the the Rick Simpson oil UM and from the cannabis
(20:51):
CBD th C component of it, there there is a
real I believe at least a real medicinal realdinal anti
inflammation principles that happened in the CBD cannabis world, and
that of building the combination of those three in Christian medicine,
(21:12):
the Rick Simpson oil and RSO UM which Rick Simpson
was a man who had cancer UM who instead of
doing chemotherapy he went down the whole list of path
of doing that and found amazing results with that. I'm
not here today making UM doctor claims from that standpoint,
(21:32):
but it's also Chris was UM the the RSO the
medicinal benefits of being able to take people that are
UM doing too many pills, whether again with all the
pain medications, depression type medicines UM UM sleeping type medicines
(21:52):
that really weren't working. I was still in pain and
still not sleeping. To be able to get yourself off
of that with UM food I V S and then
are the the RSO the oil from the medicinal standpoint, UM,
it was absolutely game changing for me and for me
then to be able then to from a UM UM
(22:16):
work or chemistry standpoint, be able now to break up
UM in a couple of a couple of the research
people I work with, to be able not to break
out the UM psychoactivity and some of the UH and
some of the canniboids absolutely being game changing now to
be able to medicinely heal UM people. And it's absolutely
(22:40):
healed myself, and it was I've been paying attention to
this UM probably for half dozen years. I started it
myself four and a half years ago, and the combination
of all of that has been so game changing to me.
Besides UM losing go over a hundred pounds and and
(23:01):
slowing down at least, the deterioration and the inability to
articulate and enunciate communicate from from the predimensia standpoint has
really been game changing, game changing with that yeh, Tobacca,
you said it quickly, but that what a terrifying thing
when when doctors say you have about five years left
of cognitive ability predimensia early onset Parkinson's. I mean, these
(23:26):
are all things right that that you were facing that
you have halted and dramatically reverse in a pretty short
amount of time, Bernie, I mean that's it's pretty breathtaking
and you should be incredibly proud of that. Well, thanks, Chris.
If even from the articulation communication, ability to enunciate words
(23:47):
just bluntly remembering that you and me are what we're
talking about, being able to stay on task and to
make points. If you and may would have been doing
this conversation or been on the sidelines of a UM
game five years ago, it would have been a brief conversation.
I'm not sure you would have even wanted me to
to um UM to be on one of your telecasts
(24:09):
like that. You know, pain killers are constant companions of athletes,
particularly football players at different levels. You talked about having
takes so many daily pills. How would you describe Bernie
your relationship with I mean, these are powerful pain killers, OPI.
It's how how at the lowest point, where were you
(24:30):
with those Well, from a from a standpoint of if
you just go back to the late nineties, early two thousands,
we were flat out preached to that it's not addictive
and it's not psychoactive, like we know that today in
two thousand and twenty two. We've probably known that for
the last few years, but ten to fifteen years ago.
(24:52):
First sure, twenty and twenty five years ago, we were
preached to that this is not psychoactive and that it's
not addictive. So those first you know, being able to
even realize that that's happened to you, UM was was
was Matt was a massive issue from from that perspective
(25:13):
with it. Will you begin the process and now you're
you're off of the painkillers and you're doing your holistic approach,
but still as hopeful as you want to be, as
much as you're trusting your instincts and trusting these new
people you're talking to you don't really know. But then
you begin to see improvement, You begin to see positives
that what was that like when you realized, ho, shit,
(25:37):
I might actually have another path to take here because
I'm getting progress in this area. Great, great question, Chris.
And just just like the enthusiasm and your voice with it,
that enthusiasm with me, um happened within a week or
two coming out of coming out of that coma, and
(25:57):
that that fastest results. And a lot of people say like, oh,
you've got great self discipline where you're an athlete, you're tough,
you know how to abstain or just change and do this.
One of the beautiful things about the food is your medicine,
the IVY therapy and the medicinal effects of the oil
(26:18):
and the Rick Simpson's oil. And for people out there,
not all stuff is made the same, so it's not
all the same things, so you may not derive the
same results just by picking something off to the street
um or at at a dispense. That's a generic term.
Rs is a generic term. It's made lots of different
(26:40):
companies in different ways, and you should definitely, definitely do
due diligence and research that if we're even considering it.
I yeah, and absolutely the same on that with your
IVY therapy. Not all ivys, not all vitamins are the same,
just like not all food is the same, so you
absolutely need to kind of research it out there. A
(27:02):
lot of people have asked me, like, how come I'm
not um selling my juice recipes, how come I'm not
selling ivy therapy, how come I'm not selling the rs
SO and the cbd s and the cbns that go
along with that. And maybe someday I will, but like
right now, I did not want and even today, you know,
(27:22):
we have talked about this off. I didn't know want.
I really wanted to help myself. I really feel a
responsibility and calling to help others with this so too.
I didn't want to make this about um um, a
P and L or a business statement. You know, I'm
not trying to sell you IVY therapy. I'm not trying
(27:43):
to sell you anybody RSO or CBD today. I'm just
relaying the my story about what I went through and
how I'm able to get better with this. So. I
don't have an economic motive for for even saying the
I vs. The food the rs SO, but that and
that makes it more powerful and honest and compelling. I
get that. So when you're having having results though, you're
(28:06):
starting to get positive steps, how are you feeling and
what are people say? Yeah, so, Chris, That's what I
wanted to say for some of the people listening out there.
You know, if you if you're dependent on alcohol, you
know that you are you dependent on opiates, you know
you can't just stop. You know you're getting nervous about that.
There's a physical, physical reactions that happens with things like
(28:30):
that that that creates a lot of anxiety and a
lot of physical issues. To be in and around other people.
And then so that first week or so, it's amazing
how you're able to physically detox people's bodies, and when
they're physically detox um, you're able to um more rashly
(28:51):
understand um kind of your situation. But what we found
after a couple of weeks of of doing this, and
this isn't a pit to say, hey, just do this
for two weeks and your whole life's going to um
change and you go back to where you're living. But
what I found was, after doing this for a couple
of weeks, it felt you could see light at the
(29:13):
end of the tunnel. And this will sound like I'm
making a claim for this, but it really was that
this was the game changing part for me is I
don't have to not drink right now nor take pills
because I'm tough and self discipline when you do this.
When I did this detox and I did this cleanse
(29:35):
um holistically and organically, Chris, it ended up almost resetting
my brain. So my brain doesn't really ask for that
type stuff. And if you are a person who drinks
too much, a person who's taking pills opiates, in particularly
the mental illness pills, the the the adderalls, the depression
(29:58):
type medicine, the sleeping pill is you almost start asking
for it when you don't take them. What I found
when I started doing this treatment with the changing of
the diet, the I V S and the oils was
it did a beautiful reset of my brain and people's
brains to to actually help me with my articulation, enunciation,
(30:20):
and communication. But it also took away that urge and
that that dem in your head that says, hey, at
happy hour today, let's go have a drink, that that
that that voice in my head doesn't talk to me.
And I found that to be a pretty consistent theme
with a lot of people that I've been able to
help share this message with. Yeah, I know, we want
(30:41):
to be careful. The message here is not throw away
your medicines, forget conventional wisdom, don't listen to your doctors.
That's those are decisions everyone has to make on their own.
You're saying what worked for you, and you were a
very m low place, and I think anybody who's in
a crisis situation has to take suck and make their
own choice based on the people around them that they trust. Etcetera.
But I know you're careful to say this is what
(31:03):
worked for you, and you made dramatic and quick progress.
Was there a moment, Bernie when you realized, Wow, I
just put together through or four big words in a
sentence and I haven't done that in a long time,
and I didn't know if I ever would be able
to and kind of a real turning point that you
can recall. Yeah, Chris, you know what it's it's been.
(31:27):
It's it's been really um those type of points happened
so much at that first month to three months that
and it had been you know, I'm saying five years,
but probably longer because I think people, you know, weren't
really telling you and you weren't really paying attention to
(31:48):
to yourself as to uh, how you sounded and how
you acted. But that was that was something that really
after after like a month or so, I'm in here
saying to myself, God, this is like a second chance
in life. And you know the the U I said
it earlier late third quarter or early fourth quarter of
(32:10):
my life. But I feel like I've been given these
gifts or shown these gifts and been given a second chance,
and so so many of us here in this world
deserve a second chance. And and when you when you're
able to honestly kind of assess where you're at and
openly look at yourself and say, hey, um, I'm proud
(32:31):
of me. Yeah, I made some mistakes back my past,
and then instead of sweeping under the table, I actually
want to embrace them and learn from them and just
make sure I don't make them again. And I really
feel like that's kind of the pathway that I've been
learning learning on. Yeah, the honesty that you've shown, the
bravery and facing mistakes in being vulnerable. I mean, if
(32:53):
people remember it was a decade ago broke, you were
talking about a very different situation, but a very difficult
situation in your life. If you were to to look
back at at you, you know, on tape from that
versus today, I mean, anybody will be startled. What what
kind of feelings do you get when you when you
see that this was just ten years ago? Yeah, you know,
(33:16):
when you look at some of those thirty thirties like
um with the great Mark Schwarts who did a couple
with me and uh Billy Corbyn, Um with the University
of Miami, and you look at some of those where, um,
most of what you filmed of me, most of what
you edited, most of what we talked about, was not
usable because I was so inarticulate, it was so challenged,
(33:41):
And I actually thought I was in decent shape when
I did those. Actually was proud of me then saying, God,
I'm really better when I did those interviews, and I
was the previous year, and I look at those now
and I'm like, jeez, how did I even make it
past the final editing of that? And and is something
that maybe you were embarrassed stuff um or scared of
(34:02):
because you were trying to do your best and you
don't know even um what your future lies, was lies
in store for you, or how to get yourself better?
So um, to to figure that out and then to
have yourself actually feeling better was this Just can't thank
God enough for that, for that, for that gift. You
(34:25):
said you feel a responsibility to share your story and
offer suggestions, not not not heavy handedly, but offer ideas
for for your brothers. You calling your brothers in the NFL. Well,
really it extends, as you know, to a lot of
middle aged guys, but guys who have been through a
tough demanding job like playing NFL football, and take me
(34:48):
through kind of your thought process and where where you
are now trying to share your experience with those guys. Yeah,
well you know Chris and from our NFL brothers out there, Um,
we we have been through a lot. But even for
guys who haven't played, Um, you and me, we're talking
about you know, as we get into our fifties, as
(35:10):
as older men, we are wanting to be leaders who
want to be heads of our family. We want to
know all the answers who want to be that wise, profound,
um leaders person. And the reality is all of our
bodies are breaking at this age. I'm not just a
football players. So for my brothers in the league and
(35:32):
for all of us guys, it's okay to say that
we're not perfect and we're breaking down a little bit.
And it's a little as I find it almost funny
slash sad funny that so many of us guys have
trouble admitting that we're not perfect and that we're breaking down.
What's the value Bernie and facing that admitting that hey,
(35:55):
we're not as strong and fast as we used to be,
and to admit you're slowing down and face it. What's
the You know why, I believe because I don't think
you could really address and fix an issue until you
really admit there is the issue. So you know, it's
one thing to say, hey, Chris follower should work on this.
I'm not Chris, I'm Burnie. But um for Bernie to say, hey,
(36:17):
Bernie needs to work on this. Burnie has this issue.
And so many guys that don't think we don't want
to admit what our issue is. And when you admit,
but maybe my limitations or my weaknesses are, or my
things that I could do better are, that's that's the
first step towards your pathway of of correcting that issue.
To what degree is football responsible for your situation? And
(36:42):
and despite the love you had for the game from
a very young age, when you say, look what football,
you know did to your mind and body, look at
the position that put you in. How do you wrestle
with that? If you do, I reconcile it um. Again,
This isn't to pick on the old teams. This isn't
a pick on the NFL. This isn't a position myself
(37:05):
for any of those concussion litigations or disability insurance things
that they run a sex players through that ultimately don't
really bear bear fruit and anything other than putting you
on more planes that put you at risk procedures and
O'Hare airport. Um, but I was I. I think I
(37:25):
joked on air before or off air before we started,
and I was so excited that my son when he
stopped playing football, because um, he doesn't have to. I
don't want to see him go through a lot of
these issues that paying the broken bones, the head issues
that that his dad had to go through. But I
(37:46):
don't say that from a what was me standpoint, And Chris,
I think ultimately to what your question was, I actually,
I'm so so proud and happy that I did this,
that played football, And actually I'm not a masochist. I'm
not too demented. I believe UM probably been hitting the
head too much to think like this, But I'm really
actually glad it happened. And I actually believe it happened
(38:08):
for a reason because if I didn't go through all this,
if I didn't have all those injuries, if I didn't
um have the issues that happened, I would have been
so easy. I wouldn't have I wouldn't been able to
determine figure out really helped develop this pathway of holistic
wellness and healthy living that actually a fifty eight years
old has me feeling better today than I did it
(38:30):
at forty eight. So UM, I'm actually glad it happened.
I'm super happy I played. I don't regret it to
the point because I wouldn't be able to have learned
this stuff if my body didn't go through all those
forty su surgeries and semi eighty broken bones, all those concussions.
I don't think, I I know, I wouldn't have had
the spirit, the the energy, the focus to attack this
(38:55):
issue selfishly, probably for myself so that I could be here,
but now for my brothers and for for guys from
across the country. This is this is really for people
at UM a lifestyle now that I really believe UM
is a pathway to real happiness and some of this
stuff that you know, uh, I've been talking so much about,
(39:17):
like what's been happening in society. You know, we've had
this virus the last couple of years, we had we
had those issues with January six, the extremists that's going on.
Whether you're a d or in our black or white,
the virus, staying in, staying out. We saw what happened
in in Buffalo just this past week, We're watching what's
(39:38):
happening in Ukraine. I mean, this is extremism that's going
out there in society. UM. This is now almost a
situation now where whether it's UM US, athletes, celebrities of
people that haven't have a platform. Now, I really believe
it's almost the responsibility of us to get out there
and let cooler heads but sure heads prevail, and to
(40:02):
be able to to have a genuine care again back
to the you matter, why we care about people as UM.
Now is a situation where there's such extreme almost hostility
towards so many people that being able to show genuine
caring and genuine love and genuinely want to see you
(40:22):
do good just for the sake of you're doing good.
I think that spirit is so essentially needed within our
country and within our world right now. Now, you said, well,
there are massive problems that are very difficult, if not
nearly impossible, to solve on many levels, seemingly, yet it
does start with an individual. If you start by improving yourself,
(40:43):
if you start by wanting to improve the others around you.
That is something that is something you can control in
a world where so much feels uncontrollable. So you sound
pretty charged up about where you are despite being in
a troubled world. Uh and each day, I mean, what
how would you characterized sort of you know this this
current chapter in your life is it? Is it a
(41:06):
new lease? How do you describe where you are at
fifty eight now? Well, you know what, it's absolutely a
new lease, a second chance, a responsibility to to really share,
share this message, share this passion, share these gifts. Um.
You know, I I say for our brothers in the league,
(41:29):
but it's really for all of us right now. And
you know as as um, so for me, you know,
really wanting to be around people and our companies you
know that are really socially and environmentally conscious, you know
that are really dedicated to improving the health and wellness
of people, families and communities on our planet. Um. That
(41:51):
type of genuine giving back and that type of genuine
help right now is something that you know, as I'm
I said a couple of times on on the on
the called here today as I get into the early
fourth quarter light third quarter of my life is something
that I'm really committed to do and I'm super proud
to be doing. What has you most excited? What? What?
(42:12):
What do you see as of course sort of a
specific purpose? Um, you know going forward if you're in
the fourth quarter, man, I hope you have double overtime.
I mean, let's not let's not worry about the clock
ticket just yet. The way you're doing right now, and
you've defied so many experts opinions, we could be sitting
here in ten twenty years having a conversation like this hopefully. Well,
you know, the the human body, the human body, and
(42:34):
the organs to live to be a hundred and twenty
a hundred and thirty years old, carried away, getting the
getting the toxins out of our environment, getting the toxins,
flushing it out of our body is absolutely a prerequisite
to trying to hit that centennial, that centennial number. Wow,
that's that's a great thing. And I think that if
(42:57):
it took um all those broken bones and all those
surgeries and all those pills and all that fear and
uncertainty and a near death experience to get you here,
then that's what it took. But yeah, I thank god
you got there and I was I went, I never
(43:17):
really I've been through stages in life of the roller
coaster and stuff. They're always wanting to be positive and
and try to again as as I talked to Or
of trying to always turn a negative situation into a
positive situation. UM. Having some of those injuries, having the concussions,
(43:38):
having the coma, having again those surgeries, UM, I actually
look at that as a blessing because I wouldn't have
been able to understand, UM this pathway, and I wouldn't
have been able to have the courage, I think to
to try some of these newer UM To me, they
don't seem speculative today, although when I was doing them
(43:58):
four or five, six years that they probably seemed like
I was reaching and speculative move. But you know, today,
to be able to have done that, I really believe
it's I've been put on this earth for kind of
that pathway. But there are still skeptics. What do you
run up against in terms of people saying add that,
come on, Bernie, you whore? You kidding? That's not going
(44:19):
to work. Yeah, you know what, Chris. Unfortunately I wish
I could disagree with you, but unfortunately you're right, Um,
there there are quite a few people. And that's kind
of why also I haven't overly talked about it, and
why it really hasn't been a business part of mine,
because when you start, if I was selling you the food,
(44:42):
the I V s or the the th HC CBD oils,
people tend to say, oh, you're you're you're biased towards that.
You're you're just trying to do it from a business perspective. So, UM,
I haven't been doing it from that perspective. A matter
of fact, it tends to be the people who UM
ask me these questions, um, mainly because they're almost desperate
(45:05):
themselves and and so I for sometimes the people who
look at me with a john decide or Um, I
think I'm embellishing or making up the issues. I wish
I was making up the issues. I wish I was
embellishing some of the stuff that I had to go through.
But um, when I uh, that happens, and I uh,
(45:27):
you prefer it not to happen. But the positive feelings
you get when you see the difference in the people
that I've been able to drastically change their lives and
see that they have a second chance. They have an
ability now to go back to leading their families, being
productive in society. It's it's game changing for me personally. Well,
(45:52):
that chance conversation where I ask you how you were
the most inane question, most innocuous, when you can possibly
ask somebody and where you have related to your story,
I mean I would never have known. And I'm sure
people say this, Uh had you not described where you
were and how low you got? Uh that you had
been all through that hearing you now because I was
(46:12):
your your your brain was always your best weapon as
a quarterball cerebral quarterback. It was it was your mind
that really got you through. You weren't the fastest guy.
That's why you got hit so many times. I had
so many concussions. But to have that part Bernie come
back together, have everything firing, to see you smiling right now,
I mean it makes the many many millions of fancy
years feel good. Well, thanks for all the younger viewers
(46:34):
or listeners out there. I don't want to do too
much truth serum, but for a guy who ran a
five five forty and had his chest and mentally, I
had to be major league cognizant of my head. And
keep my brain in in uh, in working order, because
my physical abilities weren't going to get me through and
(46:56):
that and that again was probably something that I that
I'm proud that to have had that issue, because I
don't think I would have Yeah, I'm not a massocrest,
but I don't think I would have been as injured
as much and then wouldn't have been able to kind
of learn some of these life lessons that thankfully I survived.
I think I survived him and now I'm able to
(47:18):
start passing him on to other people. And you know,
we had said earlier, what's happening in society, what's happened
with the virus, what's happening with mental illness and depression
and the need for mental wellness now and your physical
body is absolutely connected to your your physics, your mental
wellness to um, the last couple of years have made me. Besides,
(47:42):
I've gotten better and healthier. Um, what's happened around us
in society has made it almost essential that even if
people look at me with a little bit of a
john decide with it. I know there are a lot
of people that are looking at it and getting relief
from it and finding ways to um get their second
chance of life. You know, when you ask an old acquaintance,
(48:03):
how are you, what have you been up to? You
just might be shocked and inspired by their answer. I'm
certainly grateful I asked Bernie of those questions at the
practice field of his alma mater. There was so much
more to Bernie's story, so many twists and turns that
we can cover in one podcast. It ought to be
made into a movie. I would buy a ticket again.
(48:25):
I want to emphasize that swearing off medications and using
alternative approaches are serious decisions. It worked for Bernie, but
they should be made after research and thought and conversations
with people that you trust. This wraps up season four
of Power Who You Got? My co executive producer Jennifer
(48:45):
Dempster and editor Jason white Hilt, and I certainly grateful
for your interest and support and the growth of this podcast.
There are plenty of great episodes archives for you to
check out. We'll go in our usual summer hiatus and
then come back with more new episodes. I'll talk to
it then and I'll see it from Wimbledon
Host
Chris Fowler
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!