Baltimore Ravens O.J. Brigance Announces National Debut of Memoir: Strength of a Champion: Finding Faith and Fortitude Through Adversity

NFL Veteran’s Inspiring Life Story Now Available Nationwide Wherever Books are Sold

Baltimore, MD – Former NFL player and Co-Founder of the Brigance Brigade Foundation, O.J. Brigance, today announced the launch of his memoir, Strength of a Champion: Finding Faith and Fortitude Through Adversity. Published by Penguin Books and co-authored by FOX Sports Correspondent Peter Schrager, Strength of a Champion shares the story of Brigance’s NFL career, his life-changing diagnosis of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), and his unrelenting fight against the disease. 

O.J. Brigance won the Super Bowl as a player and captain with the Ravens in 2001, and again in 2013 as the team’s senior adviser of Player Development. In 2007, between these two career high points, Brigance was diagnosed with ALS and told there was a chance he wouldn't live more than five years past diagnosis. The progression of the disease has taken away the use of his arms and legs, and robbed him of the ability to speak. But, he is now six years post-diagnosis and making an incredible impact on the lives of those around him. Although he is confined to a wheelchair and forced to communicate through an augmentative speaking device, O.J. still shows up to work every morning, has an unbelievable outlook on life, and serves as an inspiration to the entire Ravens organization. 

In Strength of a Champion, Brigance opens up about:

· The “scenic route” he took to the NFL and finally becoming a Super Bowl champion

· Never-before-told insider stories from his time with Jimmy Johnson's Miami Dolphins, Brian Billick's Super Bowl XXXV champion Ravens, and the ups and downs of the past five seasons with John Harbaugh's Ravens.

· How his life experiences and struggles helped prepare him for the challenge of living with ALS, and why he refers to his diagnosis as an “opportunity”

·  Telling his loved ones about his diagnosis, and how they've dealt with each progression of the crippling disease

·  His two-decade-long relationship with his wife, Chanda (O.J.’s “Queen B”), and how they've kept their relationship strong and their spirits high in the face of unthinkable hardship

·   How he not only inspires, but is inspired by, the players and Ravens staff that he’s worked with, including Ray Lewis (who wrote the foreword) and Coach John Harbaugh

·  His conviction that he will walk again, and how his faith has lifted him up through hard times

·   His foundation, the Brigance Brigade, through which he and Chanda have raised over 1 million dollars for ALS research, helping others who are stricken, and will be stricken, with the disease 

“Writing Strength of a Champion with Peter Schrager has been an incredible journey and I am so proud of what we have accomplished,” said O.J. Brigance, Baltimore Ravens Senior Advisor to Player Development and Co-Founder of the Brigance Brigade Foundation. “I couldn’t be happier to share my personal story and try to encourage others to be fearless in the face of adversity. There will always be obstacles in your life, I hope what people take away from Strength of a Champion is that those obstacles should never limit you, they should teach you something and motivate you to keep pushing forward.” 

Full of profound revelations and never-before-told anecdotes, Strength of a Champion, with a foreword by Baltimore Ravens Ring of Honor member Ray Lewis, is a celebration of the human spirit from a man who left everything on the field. Anyone who’s faced a seemingly insurmountable challenge will find courage and comfort in Strength of a Champion. 

Strength of a Champion is now available online at www.Amazon.com and wherever books are sold.