How Bengals’ Orlando Brown Jr. Turned 'Traumatic Experiences' Like Losing His Father Into 'Fuel' (Exclusive)

Cincinnati Bengals offensive player Orlando Brown Jr. he is a hero on and off the football field.

After losing his father, a former NFL player, to complications from diabetic ketoacidosis when he was just 15, and growing up caring for his younger brother, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was just nine, Brown, a Bengals player, now 27, tells PEOPLE how he turned his “traumatic experiences” into “fuel” to help others living with type 1 diabetes.

“I’m someone who’s dealt with a lot of different traumatic experiences in my life and career,” Brown says, pointing to his parents’ divorce, the loss of his grandmother to “type 1 complications and heart problems” when he was young and his grandfather’s passing “shortly after “father’s death in 2011.

“I’m someone who’s seen a lot, been through a lot, and I’ve learned to use that anger and pain and sadness as fuel for what I do in my day-to-day life,” Brown says.

“I would say that everything that I’ve been through in my life, every time someone has told me that I can’t do something, that’s my extra fuel, it adds to my motivation and it’s allowed me to be able to separate those emotions.”

Brown recalls the complex change in his family’s lifestyle when his younger brother was diagnosed with the disease.

“I experienced it firsthand,” he says, “seeing everything my mom went through in terms of the struggles she was dealing with, waking up in the middle of the night to check his blood sugar, making sure it wasn’t too low, making sure it wasn’t going too high, going through diet books to make sure we were getting the right carb intake, because he was on a needle at the time.”

Orlando Brown Jr. and his father, Orlando Brown Sr., and brothers.

Courtesy of the Brown family

Luke Macfarlane Runs NYC Marathon for Diabetes Awareness in Honor of Partner Hig Roberts’ Late Brother (Exclusive)

“Maintaining” diabetes treatment “for a young child” was a huge stress on his family, says Brown, who now advocates for type 1 research through the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

“That was my main reason to get involved with JDRF, is to bring peace to others,” says Brown. “I don’t have type 1, but for me, getting involved meant bringing peace to those family members, those brothers, sisters, moms, dads, cousins, uncles, aunts, grandmothers, friends, who deal with it every day, because it’s very stressful, and sometimes you feel a little hopeless and you don’t know if there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” says Brown.

Working with JDRF allows Brown to “talk to these people firsthand” and comfort families who are traveling their own path with type 1.

“JDRF has allowed me to share my story and let people know that, hey, you’re not the only person who has to deal with this. I’ve seen my mom do it. I’ve had to do it even with my friend Mark Andrews who plays in Baltimore, sometimes I had to be there for him when his blood sugar was low or too high. My main reason is to be able to help other people understand that you are not alone in this.”

Usher Opens Up About Co-Parenting While Raising Child With Type 1 Diabetes: ‘It’s Very Complicated’ (Exclusive)

Brown dedicates his work with JDRF to his late father, his brother and fellow NFL players Mark Andrews and Noah Gray, who all have type 1 diabetes.

Reflecting on his relationship with his father, whose career came to a bizarre end when a referee partially blinded him with a penalty flag in 1999, Brown says he has “so much respect for the way he carried himself” on and off the pitch.

Orlando Brown Jr. and his father Orlando Brown Sr.

Courtesy of the Brown family

“His story was a lot different than mine because he went through the extreme hardships of having to be an undrafted player coming into the NFL when he was actually a guy who had to work for everybody.”

Brown continues, “He went from the bottom of the totem pole to the top, and that’s a very difficult thing to do in this sport and profession. I have so much respect for the way he handled himself and the way his career went.”

Brown, who was drafted in the third round in 2018 by the Baltimore Ravens (where his father played for five seasons), won the 2023 Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs before signing with the Cincinnati Bengals in March 2023.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

And through her advocacy work, Brown hopes to see more affordable insulin options for people in need. “That’s one of the biggest problems with diabetes, because it’s somewhat expensive. It’s overpriced.”

“But the science in terms of what’s available now to diabetics is light years ahead of what it was in the past,” Brown says. “With cell phones today, if my brother was diagnosed today, he could almost have a robotic pancreas, and these pumps that are offered by these different companies, and his blood sugar levels can be tested and checked at any time without having to constantly stab himself. . The science has come so far, so I think that’s what JDRF continues to push.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education