Up On Game Presents: Conversations With A Legend The 20th Surgeon General Of The U.S. Dr. Jerome Adams "It Is Mental Health Awareness Month And It's Okay To Not Be Ok"

Looking for advice on your sports bets this season? Well, from totals to teasers, the Unleashed podcast has you covered. Join me, actor, producer, and sports fan Jerry Ferrara and my co-host sports journalist and sideline reporter Olivia Harland-Decker as we look at the lines and break down all the big games. Plus, each week we'll be joined by great guests from the world of sports and entertainment, and I'll get Jerry to tell some entourage stories. The Listen to Unleashed, presented by BetMGM on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest tag team in history is back and we're ready to make our grand entrance in season three of Wrestling with Freddie. That's right, Freddie. We're bringing the heat with exclusive interviews, highlights, and all the in-ring drama from the world of pro wrestling. Not only are we talking wrestling, but we'll be unleashing those fan-favorite sidequists. So strap up your boots, put on those headsets, and get ready for more episodes from your podcast wrestling tag team Jabs on Wrestling with Freddie. Listen to Wrestling with Freddie on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Up on the game, it presents Conversations with a Legend. Around here, we hustle for a little, around here, we grind for a little, around here, we hustle for a little, around here, we grind for a little bit. Okay, welcome back, LeVar Arrington here with my man Doc, the good doctor, Dr. Jerome Adams. I appreciate you coming on. Hey, good to be here with you. Conversations with a legend, and you're so active. You're doing a lot of things. Obviously, you're here. Two different things you're a part of right now. So I want to talk about the Hall of Fame health. Talk to me a little bit. Let's start there with Hall of Fame health, and what that represents, what your involvement, and what that is all about. Well, just to take it back really quickly, when I was Surgeon General of the United States, prior to this pandemic that's consumed everything, one of the issues that I highlighted was mental health and substance misuse. Amen. One of the first things I did as Surgeon General was put out in advisory calling on more people to be willing to carry in the lock zone, which is an opioid overdose reversal agent to save lives. That was professionally. There's a person dying every 11 minutes of an opioid overdose in this country. It's got a pandemic that people aren't paying attention to because of the pandemic. That number has gotten worse. It went up to 40% increase in opioid overdose deaths last year for black and brown people. Wow. And it impacted me personally. Okay. While I was Surgeon General of the United States sitting in the White House, my brother was sitting at a prison cell due to crimes. He committed to support his addiction. So mental health has always been important to me. But now I'm working with the pro football hall of fame to do three things and very quickly, and we can go into a deeper dive on any of them. We want to increase access because a lot of people don't know where to get care. We want to increase affordability because once you know where to go, people can't afford care. And then we also want to lower stigma. We're working with athletes like Charles Haley. Okay. And I had a great conversation with him just a bit ago. Calvin Johnson, one of our ambassadors. You heard his hall of fame speech talking about pain and how he dealt with that. Working with those folks to destigmatize mental health so that people know it's okay not to be okay. It's as a former player, that is ginormous. And I commend you for that. And I commend everybody who's doing that because having the access is tremendous. Having the education is tremendous because what you don't know can hurt you and it will hurt you. And one thing about us, you mentioned Charles Haley, he's a great example. We love self-medicating. We have dealt with so much pain and you've endured so much and you figure out how to still be able to perform because that's your livelihood. That's depending on it that you get caught into the cycle of figuring it out. Yes. How do I self-medicate myself? How do I get through life? So there was a study that came out that showed that 70% of NFL players reported that they used opioids. 50% of those people who'd used opioids said they misused them because you get into this habit like you said of just dealing with life, chronic pain, CTE, brain injury that people are dealing with. And then you have people like Charles Haley who's now very open about his bipolar disorder, his anxiety, his depression. And he's not allowed to talk about it in the NFL locker room or he wasn't back when he was there. Did you get judged? Exactly. You get judged and then now it's like... It's called weak. Weak equals liability. Is this player a liability? What do you mean they have mental issues? How do you mean they're battling depression? It's like we're battling depression. I'm in Indianapolis right now and the combine comes there every single year. So I see it up close more than most people and how they particularly, and I'm going to call it what it is, for black and brown people. They want to look at character flaws. We want to test your educational level. We want to see if you've had mental health issues. We want to see if you've had this, that, and the other. And it discourages people from coming forward and saying, I have a problem. And so that's why it's so important when you have a Calvin Johnson. Someone who everyone looks at and says, man, I'd love to be like him. I'd love to have a career like him saying, I was struggling too. And I want to make it normal for people to know like Naomi Osaka, like Simone Biles, that it's okay not to be okay. And it was a hot button topic that Simone Biles withdrew from what was taking place in a lot of people looking at it and casting judgments and different things like that. Because it's still relatively new to be open and supportive of these elements at play. So let's move on to fun recovery. How does that play a part in this? Hey there, wrestling fans. This is Freddie Prinz Jr. And I'm excited to announce that wrestling with Freddie is coming back for season three. Joining me once again is my awesome co-host Jeff Dodd. Together, we'll be highlighting the best matches of the week, giving you our expert opinions on the biggest feuds and storylines, and discussing all the latest developments in the world of pro wrestling. We're also bringing back our fan favorite, Sawed Quests, and adding some more fun stuff along the way. And of course, we'll be joined by some amazing guests. So whether you're a longtime fan or just getting into wrestling, we have you covered. So be sure to tune in every week, hit that subscribe button, and take that walk down the aisle with us for all the action and excitement in wrestling with Freddie. We can't wait to hear from you this season. Listen to wrestling with Freddie as part of the Michael Tura Podcast Network available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. No matter which team you root for, the Unleashed podcast is here to help you pick winners and losers. So join me, Olivia Harland-Decker, and my co-host Jerry Ferrara, each week as we take a look at the latest lines and break down all the biggest stories and games in sports. That's right, from props to parlays, totals to teasers, we've got you covered. And you'll get to hear us celebrate our winners, or bemoan our bad beats, but hopefully mostly celebrate winners. Plus, we'll talk with some great guests from the world of sports and entertainment, which reminds me, I got some calls to make, and I owe you to cash in. Okay, Jerry, yeah, you get on that. Now, a lot of shows break down games, but the Unleashed podcast is the only one that also breaks down each season of Entourage, as I binge watch every episode and make Jerry relive it in the process and take us behind the scenes. Oh, I got stories, you can count on that. So listen to the Unleashed podcast presented by BetMGM on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. But what exactly is fun recovery, because that's a major part of what you have going on as well. Well, again, Hall of Fame health, what we're doing is we're vetting programs across the country. So let's say you have a family member who needs help or you need help. You don't know where to go. And even when you find a place, you don't know if it's a good place or a bad place. We're vetting these places, and these are the places that the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies go to. These are places that our Hall of Famers go to. We want to make sure you know where to go so you can go to hofhealth.com and we can connect you with those services. Okay. But then you may not be able to afford it. We're negotiating rates, sometimes half price with these top notch institutions using the brand of the pro football Hall of Fame so that you can afford the care. That's awesome. And then funrecovery.org is where you can go to get a scholarship if you still can't afford it because, and Lavar, you can speak to this better than I can, but it's just shameful how many former athletes out there are living paycheck to paycheck. And former NFL players can't afford sometimes the discounted care that we're providing. So we want to get them scholarships. You can go to funrecovery.org and you can get a scholarship or you can donate because a lot of your people listening to doing pretty well too. We want them to donate and help people get care. And indeed, makes sense. I mean, we are community and support is key. Supporting ourselves. I mean, being a part of the legends community, I actually started this show so that we could have a platform for legendary voices. I believe we're all legends in our own right in our own way. So to me, this was super important to get create a platform where we can have these conversations. So one of the cool things that I've had the experience of learning about from talking to former players is the regular people. They're regular people. I meet people like you. I said Charles and the conversation I had with Charles Haley will stick with me for the rest of my life. But Calvin Johnson was, I took my son to meet him and I mean, you would have thought that they'd known each other for 20 years. These are regular people. And when you start talking about how you grew up and I grew up in the country, when you talk about when I talk about my brother who suffers from substance use disorder, when you talk about the struggles of being a black man and admitting, hey, I may need some help. You talk to these players and it just normalizes the conversation in a way that I think is helpful for everybody out there. Talking with my guy, Dr. Jerome Adams, you can go to www.hofhealth.com or you can go to www.funrecovery.org. All right, before I let you go, my last question to you is, as much as you've accomplished in your life and being a surgeon general and just having so much influence, what led directly to football? What led to the Hall of Fame? Well, I'm the runt in my family. So my dad coached high school sports, coached girls, basketball, and coached baseball. I've got a brother, two brothers who were over six feet tall. My 15 year old son is six foot going on six foot one in taller than me. So I've always loved sports and playing with sports. I think it teaches you a lot that you need to know about life, teamwork, and beyond. And I think that athletes can have an impact well beyond what they do on the field in terms of being positive role models for communities. Every kid out there isn't going to make it to the NFL. Isn't going to make it to be an NBA player or MLB player. But if they look at someone like you, I want them to say, I want to be like LeVar, not because he was a great linebacker for a team that I actually grew up rooting for. I want them to say, I want to be like LeVar because he's someone who talks about mental health. He's someone who takes care of his family and his community. That's how you want to be like LeVar. Love that. Love that. Well, look here. We got Dr. Jerome Adams here, the 20th surgeon general. I appreciate you taking a little time out for me and doing this interview. It's so important. It's something that's near and dear to my heart. I'll ring that bell any way I can support you, let me know. Absolutely. It's okay not to be okay. You take care of a broken ankle if you had it. Let's take care of our mental health because if we do that, we'll all be in a better place. Hey, man. Good to see you. You too. Appreciate you. All right. Thank you. Hey, Dr. Adams, we'll be right back. This is up on game conversations with LeVar. I'm LeVar, ain't it? Yeah, that's who I am. Don't hit stop yet. You know why? Because I'm still having a moment. Okay, now we can go. Now we can go. You know what? Heh heh heh. Yeah. Heh heh heh. Looking for advice on your sports bets this season? Well, from totals to teasers, the Unleashed Podcast has you covered. Join me, actor, producer, and sports fan Jerry Ferrara and my co-host, sports journalist and sideline reporter Olivia Harland-Decker as we look at the lines and break down all the big games. Plus, each week we'll be joined by great guests from the world of sports and entertainment. And I'll get Jerry to tell some entourage stories. The Listen to Unleashed presented by BetMGM on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest tag team in history is back and we're ready to make our grand entrance in season three of wrestling with Freddie. That's right, Freddie. We're in the heat with exclusive interviews, highlights, and all the in-ring drama from the world of pro wrestling. Not only are we talking wrestling, but we'll be unleashing those fan-favorite sidequists. So strap up your boots, put on those headsets, and get ready for more episodes from your podcast wrestling tag team jabs on wrestling with Freddie. Listen to wrestling with Freddie on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.