Former Football Player Helps Hundreds with Addiction Recovery

AND THOSE STORIES. RIGHT NOW ON MATTER OF FACT. SINCE 1999, MORE THAN A MILLION AMERICANS HAVE DIED OF A DRUG OVERDOSE. IN FACT, A RECENT SURVEY FOUND THAT MORE THAN 40% OF U.S. ADULTS SAY THEY KNOW SOMEONE WHO’S DIED OF AN OVERDOSE. AS THE DRUG EPIDEMIC TOUCHES MILLIONS OF LIVES AND EVERY DAY, PEOPLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE LOCKED IN A BATTLE WITH ADDICTION, JEROD THOMAS WAS ONE OF THEM. IT COMPLETELY UNDID HIS LIFE, BUT HE TOOK THAT BATTLE, THAT UNDERSTANDING AND THAT EMPATHY. AND HE’S NOW USING IT TO HELP HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE EVERY DAY. OUR CORRESPONDENT, JESSE GOMEZ SHARES HIS STORY. WHEN I CAME TO PLAY COLLEGE FOOTBALL, MY FATHER SAID, HEY, BOY, IT’S NOT LIKE PLAYING ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE COUNTRY. YOU. HE SAID, YOU CAN PLAY AT BIGGER SCHOOLS, YOU CAN PLAY AT BETTER SCHOOLS. BUT IF YOU PLAY AT MARSHALL, YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO THAT COMMUNITY TO REBUILD IT. WE ARE MARSHALL UNIVERSITY IN HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA, WHERE THE ANNUAL SPRING FOOTBALL GAME KICKS OFF LIKE THIS WITH A TRIBUTE TO THE MARSHALL FOOTBALL PLAYERS, COACHES AND FANS KILLED IN A PLANE CRASH MORE THAN 50 YEARS AGO. THEY DIDN’T NEED US TO WIN. THEY NEEDED US TO PLAY. AND THAT’S SPECIAL TO ME. JEROD THOMAS, A WALK ON IN 1987. HE QUICKLY WORKED HIS WAY UP TO STARTING FREE SAFETY, BUT HIS SKILLS OVER SHADOWED BY A FAMILY LEGACY OF VIOLENCE AND ADDICTION. AND YOU GOT THIS FEISTY GUY ON DEFENSE OR COME UP AND JUST, YOU KNOW, JUST HIT YOU. I REMEMBER CERTAIN TIMES OFF THE FIELD THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN A FEW FIGHTS HERE AND THERE. I HAD MY CLICK, WE WENT OUT, WE DRANK, WE GOT IN FIGHTS, WE CAUSED TROUBLE. ALL THE DRINKING LED TO DRUGS. AND JARED’S DREAMS OF GOING PRO DIED AT NFL TRAINING CAMPS. NOW IT’S HARD TO PLAY FOOTBALL. IT’S REALLY HARD TO PLAY FOOTBALL IF YOU SMOKE, CRACK ALL NIGHT. A LOT OF TIMES THIS WAS MY HOUSE. THIS IS WHERE I LIVED. EVENTUALLY LANDING IN LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY. JARED’S ADDICTION LED TO YEARS OF HOMELESSNESS. HE WAS A SELF-PROCLAIMED CON MAN. YOU JUST SAY TO A STRANGER, HEY, I’VE RUN OUT OF GAS AND I NEED A COUPLE DOLLARS FOR GAS. WELL, CRACK A HIT COST $20. HE MET HIS WIFE, YVETTE, IN AN AA MEETING, BUT THE SOBRIETY NEVER LASTED. I ALWAYS SLEPT WHEN HE WENT TO JAIL. THAT’S WHEN I COULD SLEEP. BECAUSE I KNEW HE WAS SAFE. I’M GOING TO DRINK THAT FIRST ONE. THAT’S GOING TO SET OFF MY CRAVING. IT WAS IN A JAIL LIKE THIS ONE WHERE THINGS CHANGED AND I THOUGHT, MAN, IF YOU’LL GET ME SOBER AND I DON’T KNOW WHO I’M TALKING TO, IF YOU’LL GET ME SOBER, I’LL SPEND THE REST OF MY LIFE HELPING OTHER PEOPLE, ALL WHILE STILL BEHIND BARS. JARED CREATED A SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROGRAM THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY BE IMPLEMENTED IN CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES AROUND THE STATE. ONE WITH SOLUTIONS TO THE EXCUSES HE HAD MADE FOR SO LONG. WE TEACH THEM HOW TO WORK. WE TEACH THEM HOW TO TO BE PARENTS OR TO BE KIDS. WE GIVE THEM EVERY LITTLE SKILL THEY NEED. IT WAS GUY HUGUELET WHO HIRED JARED TO BRING HIS VISION HERE TO THE SHEPHERD’S HOUSE. A LONG-TERM RECOVERY CENTER IN LEXINGTON. I WAS AN ALCOHOLIC, A DRUG ADDICT, LOST ALL MY FAMILY. I WAS REAL MEAN. NOW, A SHEPHERD’S HOUSE MANAGER, FRANK JUNIOR EVANS, SPENT MOST OF HIS ADULT LIFE IN PRISON. I NEEDED THE ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE STRUCTURE THAT THEY GAVE ME, AND FROM THERE, IT’S LED ME TO, UH, A LIFE THAT I NEVER THOUGHT I COULD EVER LIVE. TODAY. I MEAN, I GET TO BE A DAD. I GET TO BE A SON. YOU KNOW, I GET TO BE A HUSBAND. AND 35 YEAR OLD JACOB RATLIFF, A SUCCESSFUL HOME BUILDER WHO ALMOST DIED OF A DRUG OVERDOSE. I LOOK AT ME AS WHAT I AM NOW AS OPPOSED TO WHERE I CAME FROM. DEAR HEAVENLY FATHER, WE COME BEFORE YOU TODAY AND WE ASK THAT YOU BLESS THIS MEAL FROM ONE FACILITY TO MORE THAN TWO DOZEN UNDER JARED’S WATCH, THE SHEPHERD’S HOUSE HELPS SOME 600 PEOPLE EVERY DAY. THE REWARD THAT I GET FROM HELPING THEM AND PUTTING THEM BACK IN THE GAME, IT IS PRICELESS TO ME. JARED THOMAS WE ARE A STORY OF HOPE. HE BRINGS BACK TO MARSHALL UNIVERSITY IN A CITY THAT REBUILT AFTER TRAGEDY, ONLY TO BE HIT HARD AGAIN BY ADDICTION. I’VE BEEN SOBER 16 YEARS, WIFE’S BEEN SOBER 20 YEARS. HE WILL DRIVE TWO HOURS TO MEET WITH A GUY FOR A HALF HOUR AND DRIVE BACK TWO HOURS. I MEAN, HOW MANY GUYS WOULD DO THAT? I’M SO PROUD OF HIM. IT ALWAYS BOTHERED ME TO NOT BE A GOOD TEAMMATE. WHAT I DID WRONG, I WANT TO MAKE IT RIGHT. MY DREAM WAS TO PLAY IN THE NFL. MAN, I’M SO GRATEFUL I DIDN’T PLAY IN THE NFL. IF I DID, I WOULDN’T HAVE THE SHEPHERD’S HOUSE. AND MAN, THAT’S THE GREATEST GIFT I’VE EVER BEEN GIVEN IN HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA. FOR MATTER OF FACT, I’M JESSICA GOMEZ. THOMAS TELLS US THAT SHEPHERD’S HOUSE IS MAKING PLANS TO SOON OPEN A