Alan Fancea, Pro Football Hall of Fame Offensive Lineman

We continue it is is that gilb show coast to coast on CBS Sports radio. Let's head out to the guest line right now We'll chat with the pro football Hall of Famer and Alan fanica will chat a little bit about football and also his battle of epilepsy and the steps towards zero initiative Alan fanica appreciate the time as always. How you been?

Good. Thanks for having me on well, I appreciate you coming on So what do you want people to know about the steps towards zero initiative? Well, the steps towards zero movement was launched by SK life science and then our goal is to help educate inspire and activate the epilepsy community We're always striving for what your zero can be for you You know, the zero is different for everybody But we're trying to activate and engage the community and to help everybody find out what they need to do And they can go to steps towards zero comm Find ways to help re-engage a conversation with your doctor communicate with other people join the conversation with other people have epilepsy to help people know that you're not alone and just really Rethink where they are with their epilepsy journey and to help Remove the stigma of epilepsy, you know, Hollywood does a really good job of selling what they think it is and a lot of people with epilepsy kind of hide behind that because they're nervous or afraid or for whatever reason They might have but to kind of step in front of that and and own it a little bit and sometimes it's easier to own It when you know other people are in it with you, which is kind of why I'm here talking today So you made the pro football Hall of Fame you reach the highest of highs in terms of levels when it comes to being an NFL Play you one of the greatest guards of all time. How did you battle with epilepsy throughout your career? And what do you want people to know about your journey? Well, you know, my journey started as a freshman in high school Christmas Eve was my first seizure you know, and I was Took some time took some long time to find the right path for me to find out what was going on with me to get diagnosed and to really find the right medication treatment for me I know everybody with epilepsy goes through that in their own former way and You know, it it never stops, right? We're always doing something to maintain our health our body trying to do the little bit of extra things that we have to do when when you have a Disease or a syndrome like epilepsy So, you know It's just one of those things that we go through and deal with and we keep plugging and moving along and that's one of the things That I like to talk about. Did it ever almost derail your your football career just wondering Well, you know in the beginning, you know, this is back in 1991 and pre-internet so you don't get your answers right away Like we do today. So there was a long period of understanding what epilepsy is Understanding what I was going to be able to do You know that those months long months of finding the right medication dose, you know Are we going to find one knowing what's going to happen?

What's the end result of this going to look like for me once you you know get there? And the real answer is that you never know what the end result is, which is why we're doing this to get people so many people lose their Don't lose it, but it becomes normal is what I say becomes normal, you know, you you haven't visited your doctors in several months You don't know what else is new out there. It could have been years since you've seen a doctor and had a discussion So that's why we're trying to activate the community to get out there and start those discussions again with your your doctors and your Support group the pro football Hall of Famer Alan Fannica here with us I want to chat a little bit about LSU with you Brian Kelly in his first year as the head coach of the Tigers got off to a slow start But now sitting at six and two in a big game this weekend against Alabama would have been your impressions and you're one of the Brian Kelly ever in Baton Rouge you know slow start like you said definitely a slow start, but you know, I think It's starting to pick pick up some steam right here and it's starting to get everybody excited of where we are, you know, I think roster wise we're still a ways away with you know, the The gut that happens when a college coach leaves in today's the NCAA but things are looking good now, I think they're really excited for a big game this week and Seeing how it's all gonna play out for the Tigers at home at night your Steelers You know, you want a Super Bowl with them. You're one of the all-time great Steelers on the offensive line what do you think about the direction of the franchise because this was one of those years where you went into it and You felt like with Pittsburgh that they just didn't have a team that could make a Super Bowl let alone be a playoff team this season You know, they're going through their struggles. They've got the growing pains With it with the young quarterback Now that he is the QB one You know other things are happening. It's it's it's not just him It's just a little bit more of a team thing and I think some of it gets thrown on his shoulders But there's definitely some Work that needs to be done all around the team Especially on the offensive side of the ball to be a little more consistent help out the defense.

That is still playing really good despite You know losing their number one rusher there on the edge. It's It's tough to watch but you know, you still support him and hope for the best and you know I think I've been in those situations in those seasons where you know Things don't look good and you know for all intents purposes, you're probably not gonna make the playoffs But there's still work to be done. You can still work to improve and build the building blocks that you can stand on and Start your next season off better Where's your confidence in Mike Tom that he's gonna find the way to turn this around maybe for next season? Oh I mean Mike's found ways ever since he's been there So I think Mike's gonna find a way Whether it's in the normal spot He looks and finds it or if he needs to go looking somewhere else I I don't I don't have any any problem or with Mike and what he's gonna do and how he's gonna find the way to fix It cuz he's a guy that doesn't leave a stone unturned and puts in the work in the hours In the energy to find the right people to get things turned around Wrapping up with the pro Football Hall of Famer Alan Fannica on the Zach Gelb show Were you surprised that they traded Chase Claypool for the Bears second round pick? You know, I was a little surprised, you know Especially since the breaks from a normal Steelers tradition Dealing with trades, but it leads me to wonder if there was something there that they knew ahead of time you know, maybe what he was that once in contract wise or you know something maybe that the Other fans didn't know for them to make that trade right here in the middle of the season Before we let you run everyone remembers your career about the Steelers with the Steelers and obviously you ended your career with New York And then the Arizona Cardinals the Jets you got to an AFC championship with them And I know they were rolling and then they released you in that offseason How no one ever expects to get cut but sometimes you get some hints Did that shock you in the moment because that was one move I never got You know, it caught it did catch me off guard It's one of those things, you know after the fact We were just really we had some bad communication on my part and on their part. I had a shoulder issue and I think they thought it was more of a problem than it was and They thought I was trying to delay surgery just to like, you know, steal one more year quote unquote But I wasn't I was really feeling okay So I think there was just a bad communication on how I was feeling on how I expressed it to them and vice versa Where they thought I was and it just led to what it was it sucked But you know going back on and looking on conversations.

I had after it all went down I started to see concerns and those thoughts and maybe I wasn't expressing myself the best and they didn't come right out and ask it as well, so a Little bit of back communication on both parts. How did you compare playing in Pittsburgh to playing with the Jets? Oh Man completely different types of organizations, you know family-run organization in Pittsburgh to You know anything you need and want in New York will will do it for you and so kind of a bigger bigger picture when you get to New York, you know as far as just the staff and Support team around it. So it's definitely a bigger run group than in Pittsburgh And one more time before we let you run if people interested in learning more about these steps towards zero movement How could they find out more about it? First off you go to steps towards zero calm You'll get all the information you need to talk to your doctor and join the conversation And how to revisit your history and find a find out your new goals and figure out what you need to do as well You can go to social media and hashtag Steps towards zero and life-case science will donate a dollar to the epilepsy foundation if you use that hashtag and tell What your goal is zero means to you by the way, how much weight are you down? You're looking really slim these days I'm down about 75 pounds from when I played I got down to a hundred at one point just to say I got I got down to hundreds. That's awesome. Well, we appreciate the time today.

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