Schools
Former NFL Player Ray Lucas Visits Mercer School, Shares Opioid Story
The former NFL player spoke to hundreds of students about the impact of opioid addiction.
MERCER COUNTY, NJ — Former NFL quarterback Ray Lucas visited student-athletes at Nottingham High School in Hamilton to speak about the impact of addiction.
Lucas, an NJ native, spoke to hundreds of students gathered at the high school auditorium, and shared his personal story on his rise to the top of his profession and how addiction to opioids brought his life crashing down.
The event was part of the Knock Out Opioid Abuse initiative, a program created by Partnership for a Drug-Free (PDFNJ) and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, in collaboration with the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).
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This was the ninth of 10 events to be held for high school students through the 2022-23 school year.
Lucas, was a former star quarterback at Rutgers who enjoyed an eight-year career in the NFL. He shared stories from his playing days and detailed how he developed an addiction to opioids and finally achieved recovery.
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“Injuries happen in high school sports so make sure to ask the questions about what you are being prescribed for pain and ask for help if you need it,” Lucas told students. “Addiction does not discriminate. It can happen to anyone at any time.”
Lucas sustained numerous injuries during his career and underwent several surgeries during and after his career, becoming dependent on prescription opioids.
The former NFL player has been open about his addiction and recovery in an effort to help others.
In 2022, more than 2,800 people in New Jersey died of drug overdoses, a majority of which involved some form of opioid.
Student-athletes are at an elevated risk of opioid use as sports injuries send more than 2.6 million children to emergency rooms every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In Mercer County, there were 108 suspected overdose deaths and 584 naloxone administrations to reverse opioid overdoses last year.
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