The Giants' Darren Waller nearly died of an overdose. Now he helps NJ kids beat addiction

Darren Waller's drug addiction began when he started taking pain pills from his parents' medicine cabinet when he was only 15 and a budding high school football star.

It ended six years ago when he nearly died of an overdose on a batch of opioids laced with potent fentanyl — a rock-bottom moment that began his road to recovery.

Today, Waller has rebounded. He is a star tight end for the New York Giants. He is candid about his addiction — along with the social isolation and anxiety that fed it. He has given several long, detailed interviews about his troubles to national outlets. And he speaks to young people about the choices that led to his addiction and the hard work it took to get clean.

Waller is only going to get busier on the speakers' circuit.

Under a partnership announced Wednesday with Hackensack Meridian Health, Waller will continue to discuss his own experiences with mental health, addiction and sobriety at events across New Jersey, including at places like the Carrier Clinic, which has one of the largest addiction services in the state.

He will also be featured in an advertising campaign and be the star of the network's multimedia efforts. Terms of the partnership were not publicly disclosed.

Waller said he hopes his new role will help to "reduce the stigma attached to addiction and to reach people who currently may be where I was for many years — in a vicious cycle of using alcohol and drugs, and feeling lost and ashamed."

Overdose deaths have exploded in NJ and nationwide

The partnership comes at a time when overdose deaths have exploded in New Jersey over the past decade, mirroring a national trend.

The 2,892 suspected drug-related deaths in 2022 were well over double the 1,223 deaths in 2012. There are more overdose deaths in New Jersey each year than fatal car crashes, suicides and homicides combined. Driving that trend is fentanyl, the powerful opioid that almost claimed Waller's life.

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Although overdose hospital visits have gone down in recent years, they are still up significantly from a decade ago, with 8,754 visits in 2022 — more than double the number in 2012.

It is a situation Attorney General Matt Platkin has called an "epidemic that has touched every corner of our country, and New Jersey wasn’t spared."

His drug use surged in college

Waller's drug use began in high school, but it increased dramatically when he arrived at Georgia Tech in 2011.

His opioid addiction led to the use of molly, ecstasy, cocaine, weed and alcohol. He failed a few drug tests and said he cheated on a number of others. Despite his immense talent, his draft status plummeted due to his failed tests, but the Baltimore Ravens took a chance on him in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft.

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Waller's addiction followed him to the pros, as he told an NFL film crew in 2020. He was suspended in 2016 for four games for a failed drug test. A second failure in 2017 led to a yearlong suspension from the NFL.

While the Ravens were playing a preseason game, Waller was scoring some pills that he didn't know were laced with fentanyl, a powerful opioid that is by far the leading cause of overdose deaths in New Jersey and the U.S.

He took them seated in his car in a parking lot just a few blocks from the Ravens training facility. He was knocked unconscious for four to five hours.

Waller finally sought help and entered a rehab clinic. After his stay, he went to his parents' home in Georgia with a renewed purpose to stay clean. While working out with the hope of regaining his football career, he took a job as a grocery store clerk — a routine that helped him maintain sobriety. He also credits healthy eating, yoga, exercising and strong family bonds.

After rehab, a Pro Bowl season in Oakland

In 2018, Waller was reinstated and eventually signed with the Oakland Raiders, becoming a star offensive force, culminating in a Pro Bowl appearance in 2020.

Waller was traded from the Raiders to the Giants in March in what was considered a huge addition to the Big Blue offense. It's been an up-and-down season, though for Waller, who has been injured for part of the season.

Still, setbacks on the football field are not as devastating as the ones he endured years before. People in the mental health field believe Waller's story can help many struggling with addiction.

"Darren will reinforce the message that substance use disorder is a disease, not a character flaw, and that better days are ahead with the help of treatment and a support system," said Trish Toole, president of the Carrier Clinic.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Giants TE Darren Waller, now clean, helps NJ kids fight addiction