Fearless #48: Honoring Jake Ehlinger and Confronting the Opioid Crisis
On College Gameday, November 30, 2024, a fan's sign in College Station brought national attention and outrage. The sign in question offered the following message: "Jake Ehlinger should've joined Sark @ Rehab," with the number of a California addiction treatment center posted underneath.
Jake Ehlinger, a former linebacker for the Texas Longhorns and brother to quarterback Sam Ehlinger, passed away in 2021 from fentanyl poisoning. Three years later, this sign—paraded hours before the long-awaited clash between Texas A&M University and the University of Texas—elicited a wave of impassioned responses.
As a substance use counselor and former student-athlete at TCU, I felt compelled to add my voice. This particular sign, while not representative of the TAMU community as a whole, reflects broader societal attitudes toward substance use and harm reduction. My hope in writing this is to honor Jake’s memory and provide a clinical perspective to the conversations filling timelines and airwaves these past few days.
Jake’s family, teammates, coaches, and community deserve our compassion—but more than that, they deserve a difference that makes a difference from each of us.
The State of the Opioid Crisis and Its Impact on Athletes
Jake’s death was a tragic reminder of a silent epidemic sweeping through college campuses. Fentanyl—a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine—has claimed countless lives. In 2022, over 100,000 people died from drug overdoses in the U.S., with synthetic opioids like fentanyl driving this surge (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2023). Fentanyl was involved in 77% of adolescent overdose deaths in 2021, and approximately 39% of college students who misuse prescription drugs report doing so to self-medicate, yet many are unaware of the increasing prevalence of counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl, a risk the DEA has identified as a growing and deadly threat (CDC, 2023; McCabe et al., 2009; Drug Enforcement Administration, 2023). Counterfeit pills, sold as legitimate medications, proliferate through social media and on campuses. As a result, many victims, just like Jake, never knew they were consuming fentanyl.
Jena Ehlinger’s Fentynal TV testimony on ABC.
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krnh4tV-7z8
Athletes like Jake face unique stressors that make them vulnerable to substance misuse. Jake’s mother, Jena Ehlinger, testified with courage about how Jake took what he believed to be a Xanax to tackle anxiety, restless sleep, and the pressures of life off the field (Fentanyl TV, 2023). While I don’t know whether injury was one of Jake’s stressors, many athletes turn to substances after surgeries or grueling recoveries only to find themselves navigating the razor-thin line between treatment and dependence.
Fentanyl, like death, is ambivalent. It does not discriminate based on intent or circumstance. And yet, stigma often oversimplifies these stories, reducing them to choices that society deems “weak” or “reckless” in self-righteous judgement.
Good Reasons, Better Means
Curiosity must replace judgment. A mentor of mine, Caroline Sahba, TCU's Director of Substance Use and Recovery Services, always told me, "When I stay curious, I've never had the same conversation twice, and neither will you" (To benefit from Caroline’s expertise, click here). She was right. When an athlete is struggling with substance use, I often begin by asking, “What are your good reasons for using?” For many, this question is shocking. They’ve grown accustomed to punishment, stigma, and fear. Yet understanding their reasons—whether it’s pain relief, performance anxiety, or managing pressure—can open the door to better solutions.
Michael Taafe, Westlake High School graduate, Austin, Texas native, and current starting Safety for the Texas Longhorns, advocated for his late friend and teammate after a victory on Kyle Field, November 20, 2024.
Retrieved from X. Click on the image to view Michael’s profile.
But curiosity alone is not enough. Michael Taafe, Jake’s teammate and close friend, offered a critical perspective after the TAMU game on November 30: “Jake Ehlinger didn’t die because he overdosed. He got drugged. He got poisoned” (Dimmitt, 2024). Michael’s words echo the nuanced truth of Jake’s story and invite us to approach this epidemic with empathy and urgency, empathy and urgency potentiated by a humble curiosity about what will work.
And what will work is channeling understanding into action by doing what we can to lower risk—the very purpose of harm reduction approaches to substance use prevention—knowing that the only way to have no risk is to not use. Here are some critical steps to ensure athletes have every opportunity to lower risk and save lives:
Harm Reduction in Athletic Programs
Athletic programs put immense care into their investments, and there are steps they can take to protect their talent. We need to empower athletes with new solutions to make different choices, and we need to destigmatize substance use prevention and harm reduction. We can do that by starting with the following:
Education: Provide mandatory training on the risks of fentanyl and harm-reduction strategies to save lives, including the use of Narcan and how to recognize overdose symptoms.
Narcan Availability: Equip every athletic facility with naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal drug. Train staff and players in its use.
Substance Use Services: Create specialized recovery programs for athletes, offering anonymous access to counseling and peer support.
These are all required by collegiate and NFL governing bodies, and we need to act on them with urgency (National Football League Players Association [NFLPA], n.d.; National Collegiate Athletic Association [NCAA], n.d.).
For a free PDF that can serve as a start for programs, click here.
For Parents
Like Jena Ehlinger demonstrated for us, the courage to speak up is critical to protect our children and children across the country. Parents have the power to be difference makers like Jena. Here are some ideas for how they can follow her lead:
Start the Conversation: Discuss mental health and substance use openly. Normalize seeking help.
Create Safety: Make it clear that home is a judgment-free zone, where asking for support is seen as strength, not failure.
Here is another free resource for parents unsure of where to start.
For Athletes
Every athlete is their greatest asset to their teammates mental health, resilience, and wellness. Use this incredible resource of fellowship to stay connected and advocate for one another to keep the team safe and on the field. Some ideas that may help:
Be Informed: Know the risks and seek help if you’re struggling.
Demand Worker Protections: Advocate for additional benefits and investment by your employers in the shifting landscape of NIL and revenue-sharing agreements. Ensure access to mental health and substance use resources through the power of Athlete voices.
Athletes have the agency to protect themselves and their teammates. Click here and save this to learn how.
For Fans
Without fans, sports don’t exist. With that kind of consumer power comes the responsibility to protect the product loved and cherished by so many passionate Americans. With this power and responsibility, consider choosing empathy over rivalry. Respect the humanity of every player. Rivalries end at the field’s edge; life and dignity transcends all contexts.
Moving Forward
Before I am a Horned Frog, and before anyone else is a Longhorn or an Aggie, we are all humans first. Jake’s story reminds us that life is more important than rivalries and that every life deserves dignity.
Michael Taafe and Jena Ehlinger exemplified for us the kind of leadership and compassion we all need now. As they continue to honor Fearless #48 on and off the field, we need to make a choice. Will we honor every life touched by the opioid crisis, or will we continue to ignore this epidemic in silence?
If we choose compassion over judgement, if we choose respect over ridicule, we can build a culture that supports athletes in the moments that matter most. Not by walking the easy path of blame, but by clearing the bramble-strewn road of the hard path, the path without shortcuts, the path to victory over this epidemic. For Jake. For Michael. For every teammate and every family. For love of the game—and love for each other.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Opioid overdose: Understanding the epidemic. Retrieved December 3, 2024, from https://www.cdc.gov/opioids/basics/epidemic.html.
Dimmitt, Z. (2024, December 1). Texas Longhorns' Michael Taaffe makes emotional statement about Jake Ehlinger. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 3, 2024, from https://www.si.com/college/texas/football/texas-longhorns-michael-taaffe-makes-emotional-statement-about-jake-ehlinger-01je0arbmcf1.
Fentanyl TV. (2023, October 11). Jake Ehlinger: Fearless 48, forever 20. Retrieved December 3, 2024, from https://fentanyl.tv/video/jake-ehlinger/.
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). (n.d.). Mental health best practices. Retrieved December 3, 2024, from https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2016/5/2/mental-health-best-practices.aspx.
National Football League Players Association (NFLPA). (n.d.). Drug policies. Retrieved December 3, 2024, from https://nflpa.com/active-players/drug-policies.
