When the NFL suspended New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove in 2008 because of alcohol abuse and drug abuse, he realized his football career was in serious trouble. After months of treatment in Florida, Hargrove, 26, is looking to the future and preparing for Super Bowl XLIV.
Hargrove is under full compliance with the NFL’s substance abuse program. For the past year, he has passed every drug test and sees a therapist regularly. Hargrove does not drive and uses a taxi for transportation. Hargrove told the New York Times recently that he does not socialize with his teammates because he does not want to be tempted.
"This is Super Bowl," Hargrove said. "I might only have one shot at it. I don’t want to come all this way and blow it."
Before the start of the 2007 season, Hargrove was arrested outside a Rochester, New York nightclub. A week later, he failed a drug test and was suspended for four games. After that, Hargrove said he went back to using cocaine, marijuana and alcohol. He failed another drug test months later. The NFL suspended him for the whole 2008 season. The NFL’s substance abuse program sent Hargrove to a treatment center in South Carolina for three months. From there, Hargrove went to a rehabilitation facility in Miami, where he stayed for about ten months.
Hargrove says that rehab saved his life. But by then, no team in the NFL would take Hargrove back into the football fold. Until the New Orleans Saints agreed to take him on. Now Hargrove and his teammates are playing in this weekend’s Super Bowl against the Indianapolis Colts at Sun Life Stadium in Miami.
Hargrove is proud of his clean and sober life.
