Las Vegas Raiders star tight end Darren Waller has stiff-armed his troubled past to a clear path to success for his future.
As current Las Vegas Raiders star Darren Waller lay asleep in his car overdosed, he suddenly woke up and came to a realization that his life needed to change. At one point, he was spending over $100 a day on pills and using whatever he could get his hands on, willingly failing drug tests and had no intentions of playing football ever again.
Waller had hit rock bottom and that moment in his car was the true bottom.
That was the moment Waller decided to change, and he got clean for 30 days and went to a rehab center in Camden, Maine for 34 days. Waller focused on himself, his mental health, and physical health, and began to love himself again. He took a job working in a grocery store when he received a letter from the NFL granted him reinstatement back into the league.
Waller went back to the Ravens and was on the practice squad, and when the Raiders played the Ravens in 2018, Jon Gruden saw him warming up and they immediately signed him off of the Ravens practice squad.
The following season the Raiders parted ways with their receiving leader, veteran tight and Jared Cook, who was coming off of career season, and Gruden said “I’d take Darren Waller over any Tight end in the NFL,” and from that point, the league began to take notice.
Waller emerges as a star on and off the field
Waller emerged as the Raiders leading receiver in both yards and receptions since becoming the starting tight end, and he has become Derek Carr’s most reliable target. The superstar is now one of the top tight ends in the NFL, and he has made the most of his second chance and is dominating life on and off the field.
In 2020, Waller is currently having his best season ever, sitting at 98 receptions, 1,079 yards receiving, 10.4 yards per catch, and eight touchdowns. He was recently selected to his first Pro Bowl, something that should be a yearly occurrence moving forward. Also, he has become a vocal, physical, and emotional leader on the Raiders, and has become a mentor for players and youth in the Vegas community.
He has used his challenges and setbacks in life as steppingstones to teach and educate others so that they don’t fall into the same trap. A true professional on and off the field, Waller has made a complete turnaround in his life and has become a role model, a model teammate, and one of the faces of the Raiders franchise.
While he is having a career year, he isn’t even getting started yet. As Waller continues to progress and flourish in the Raiders system, he continues to grow as a premier tight end in the National Football League.
Waller’s true potential is limitless., as he is a generational talent whose willingness to learn, adapt, and grow has made him a better teammate, and an even better human being. The Raiders are truly fortunate to have a player like Waller but are even more fortunate to have a person like him as a part of the organization.