Lourdes grad Luke Timm juggled football and academic success while hiding drug addiction
Luke Timm spun, backpedaled and sidestepped, maneuvering as best he could in an attempt to break this tackle.
As it was so often throughout the years, he had an enthralled audience with hundreds of his peers looking on in astonishment.
The Poughkeepsie native snorted a line of cocaine and stuffed the remnants in his pocket, then grabbed a beer as he headed to meet with friends at a club. This wasn’t uncommon for him on a Saturday night.
But he soon was spotted on the street by a police officer who noticed the opened bottle and sought to question him. The football standout quickly redirected and hustled toward campus, eluding the cops.
He understood that he was fortunate to have gotten away, and he knew it made sense then to stay home and keep a low profile. But it had become a habit by then to ignore discretion.
About an hour later, while waiting to gain entrance to a club, Timm felt a tug on his waist from behind. The gobsmacked expressions on his friends’ faces indicated he was in trouble. The officer he outran earlier recognized him, and this time he was cornered. After a struggle, he was wrestled to the ground and handcuffed.
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Found in his pockets were a marijuana joint and the near-empty cocaine baggie. The 19-year-old was charged with drug possession, obstructing the law, and resisting arrest. Headlines followed and word of mouth spread, detailing the arrest of a Princeton University athlete.
That Oct. 15, 2017 incident was his second drug-related arrest in little more than a year at college. But, lying on the floor and being handcuffed before a horde of schoolmates, that was especially painful.
But it’s what led eventually to his turnaround, the five years of sobriety and what he considers a quest now to help others who struggle with addiction. He speaks regularly to students – and strangers on the street – about his past, offering advice about navigating potential pitfalls. Luke and his cousin John Timm recently spearheaded a program, Touch Streets, that seeks to promote mental health and self-improvement.
“I’m a people-pleaser,” Luke Timm told PoughkeepsieJournal.com recently. “I want to be liked by everybody and I thrived off being known as the guy that drank and smoked a lot. There were people who thought that was cool, even at Princeton. Wanting to be ‘that guy’ worsened my addiction.”
Timm was “that guy” to another audience in his hometown. He excelled academically and starred in two sports at Our Lady of Lourdes High School in Poughkeepsie. He made waves as a senior, the dynamic 6-foot-5 receiver breaking records while leading the underdog football team on an improbable run to the 2015 state final.
Timm also captained the basketball team, his ebullient personality endearing him to teammates and fans.
Awards and accolades were heaped, and college offers poured in. He performed quite a balancing act, impressing outsiders while hiding a drug addiction.
“In my mind, I’m not doing anything wrong because everything is working out,” said Timm, now 24. “All these amazing things are happening, and I deserve it. ‘Look at me. I’m successful!’”
That success veiled from most what was a worsening problem. Luke began drinking at age 12, sneaking alcohol, and started smoking marijuana as a 10th-grader. Within a couple years, it became an uncontrollable addiction.
“It was every day, any time, even in school,” Timm said of smoking weed or consuming edibles. “I did it so much it became second nature, and I was able to function. I was high all the time, so it became my normal and my teachers didn’t know.”
Friends knew, though. It was dismissed by some and marveled at by others. He was a dominant athlete headed to an Ivy League school, so common perception said it couldn’t be that bad.
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Family knew too. For some, it caused a rift. Luke clashed often with his parents, Fred and Lisa. His mother was stern and her frustration coupled with his rebelliousness caused frequent arguments, and he lashed out at her. Their relationship deteriorated to the point they had limited contact. That chasm widened when he went away to college.
In fact, the parents didn’t learn about the arrest until days later when a track and field coach at Princeton, who was recruiting Caroline Timm, mentioned it to her in conversation, assuming Luke’s little sister already knew.
“It’s a miracle, knowing where he was and seeing who he is now,” Lisa Timm said of her son’s progress. “It’s almost hard to believe he's the same person.”
The metamorphosis and mission
Luke Timm doesn’t exactly look the same now. He jokes now about his shaved head, even playfully telling a group of students during a recent presentation at Lourdes that “I look like I’m 40.”
He’s added about 30 pounds of muscle to his once lanky frame and lost the flowing long hair that was a signature in his football heyday.
There’s also the tailored suits and a mature, at-ease comportment, though he maintains a lighthearted attitude.
“I haven’t drank or smoked since April 21, 2018,” he said. “I’m motivated to stay on the path and I can’t afford to do anything to jeopardize the progress.”
After being kicked off the football team and out of school following that 2017 arrest, Luke returned to Princeton a year later and eventually completed his degree. He now lives in New York City and works as an underwriter for a Manhattan-based insurance company.
But what’s become a passion project − and an entrepreneurial endeavor − is Touch Streets, which he and his cousin called a “mission to help people make positive change in their lives.”
The idea stemmed from John Timm’s “No Man Sits Alone” campaign, which seeks to raise awareness and spark conversation about mental illness among men. John, 24, had quietly battled depression and, despite collegiate and career success, he spiraled into a manic daze and became suicidal two years ago. His continued recovery inspired that push, and he began speaking at local high schools and colleges.
Luke, meanwhile, was using social media and online platforms to speak about his winding route to sobriety. Earlier this year, he and John thought to combine their efforts, believing addiction and mental health go hand-in-hand. The cousins always have been close, and each provided a shoulder for the other to lean on during their most difficult times.
“We’re both in a period in our recovery where we’re growing and we can offer help,” said John Timm, who was a multi-sport standout at Spackenkill High School.
They both are becoming certified as life coaches, Luke said, and their goal is to eventually become “self-elevation” experts.
They work in tandem during speaking engagements, going back and forth sharing stories of their low points, analyzing their thoughts and emotions, and detailing their recovery process. They also take to the streets of Manhattan, exercising in Spider-Man costumes and broaching the topic of mental wellness with strangers.
The purpose of the superhero outfits is to quickly grab the attention of passersby. Now, John said, people often approach them with quizzical expressions and initiate conversation.
Following the presentation at Lourdes, Luke spoke at length with Jim Santoro, his former basketball coach. Principal Meghan Vilardo joked that she’s glad her interaction with him now doesn’t involve a reprimand.
“He’s always been influential on the people around him, positively and negatively,” said Caroline Timm, whose time at Princeton overlapped with her brother’s for three years. “He’s outgoing and can connect easily with people. To see him hit rock bottom then turn his life around, and now use that influence for good, I’m incredibly proud.”
Rock bottom and the climb back
Luke always has been a social chameleon, but he admits now that he often was drawn to the “wrong crowds.” That combination became an impediment, particularly when he gained easy access to cocaine in college and sought to enhance the "wild guy" reputation.
“It was painful,” Lisa Timm said. “I prayed a lot during those years. We went to counseling at one point and the counselor said, ‘He has so much potential. All he needs to do is get sober.’ And I thought that was impossible. No teenager with his problems is going to get sober in that college setting.”
Luke had been arrested for marijuana possession as a college freshman, but the legal penalties and those imposed by the football team weren’t enough of a deterrent. Some teammates were skeptical, he said, but he convinced the head coach “it was a one-time thing.”
Until the second time he was caught.
Those charges, Luke said, were reduced to a misdemeanor, for which he performed community service. But he was dismissed by the team, and the university required him to take a year off and “get clean” before he could re-enroll.
By then, Luke said, he had acknowledged his faults. It crystallized while sitting handcuffed in the police car, replaying the scene of his arrest. The kid who enjoyed playing to crowds, on the field and elsewhere, had an unwelcome one for his most embarrassing moment.
He returned home in fall 2017 and attempted to quit cold turkey. The coke habit was comparatively easy to kick, he said, but he avoided alcohol and marijuana for only two weeks. After backsliding twice more, a friend got him into Alcoholics Anonymous.
What he learned from that program resonated, he said, forcing him to “address my flaws,” and take accountability.
“I realized that whenever there was a decision that required me to show character and strength,” he said, “I always took the easy route. That had to change.”
Some old friends were kept at a distance and other friendships nixed.
He achieved sobriety in spring 2018, he said, and was readmitted to Princeton that fall, contingent on him passing drug tests. He began the repeat of his sophomore year as Caroline entered the school, and he credits her with helping him avoid trouble.
Luke committed himself to developing better study habits and avoiding parties, so his sister became a study partner and dinner buddy, providing the comfort of a familiar face sans the temptation of vices.
“We needed each other’s support, me as a freshman and him resetting,” said Caroline, who is now a graduate student at Kennesaw State. She qualified two weeks ago for the NCAA outdoor track and field championships.
“He doesn’t struggle socially, but I hoped I could make the transition easier by being someone he could do productive things with,” she continued. “We’ve always been close as siblings, but that time made us closer.”
Luke eventually made amends with the football team and rejoined them in 2019, though at first he only was allowed to film practices, working to regain their trust. The pandemic canceled what would have been his senior season, but he graduated in 2021 and found a career and a calling.
The biggest repair, though, was the rekindling of a “tarnished” relationship with his mother. Since getting sober, they have warmed to each other and now, he said, “we’re great.”
“Out of the blue he said, ‘I’ve been so bad to you and I’m sorry,’” Lisa Timm said. “That was during the early stage of him starting to make a change, and he became honest. We’ve grown from that point, and things started becoming normal.
“He’s so filled with joy and purpose now. And I’m so proud; so thankful.”
Stephen Haynes: shaynes@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4826, Twitter: @StephenHaynes4
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Former Lourdes football star Luke Timm details addiction and recovery
