Son, Teammate, Family

Details continue to filter about yesterday’s death of Oklahoma linebacker Austin Box. The Tulsa World published the 911 call, as well as the police report. Emotions among college football fans range from shock, to an instinctive desire to want to push blame…somewhere. But mostly, there’s mourning. A life not yet in its prime was cut down, the second time in as many weeks a BCS conference player has died. If Aaron Douglas’ sudden passing was a gut punch, Box’s is a staggering uppercut.

Football’s significance is nil in this conversation. Box was a great player, sure. He was slated to start at MLB for the nation’s likely No. 1 team. But football was merely a vehicle on a road with a bright future ahead. Box had just earned his degree a week ago. Nothing could be further from the stereotype anti-drug workshops in elementary school had perpetuated of sleazy miscreants living beneath freeway overpasses. He was a son. He was family. His deaths leave voids in many, many hearts.

His family released the following:

“Austin loved everything about Oklahoma — the people, his hometown of Enid and his many close friends. Most of all, Austin loved his family and we loved him. We invite you to join us in celebrating his life.”

Box also leaves behind a second family, the dozens of young men who wore crimson-and-cream with him every day. Any team dynamic forms a brother-like bond, so for those who put on that OU-emblazoned helmet alongside Box, a brother died. Maybe football isn’t so insignificant, after all.

Box’s fellow Oklahoma Sooner Frank Alexander sent out a few heartwrenching tweets.

“Life is too short.. Cherish it and don’t take it for granted..”

“CLASS of 07… Gone but not forgotten.. #RIP Austin Box… We gone hold it down for u homie…”

Not since his UConn teammates carried the slain Jasper Howard’s jersey onto the field for the first time has something in college football struck me so suddenly. I read Alexander’s tweet, and in fewer than 140 characters he summarized the impact this has on so many.

The above aren’t sentiments that would be expressed for a “bad” person, and that’s where drug abuse prevention has been so wrongheaded for so many years. The way in which programs like D.A.R.E. portrayed drug use in my youth was that taking drugs made you a bad person. As I’ve grown into adulthood I have discovered that’s just not the case. There are what could be called “bad” people who use drugs, but there are good people who do, too; people who have made contributions to society, whether artistic, athletic, political or philanthropic. Box’s tragic death should open more mature discussions on the horrible implications substance abuse can have on lives.

Richard Nixon launched a “war” on drugs that has remained entrenched in American policy for decades, rather than education on drugs. Combating the evils of substance abuse is a noble cause, but “war” implies foxholes, mortar fire, heavy artillery. It’s a black-and-white mentality, and one I believe has been detrimental. Perhaps that stark, good-vs-bad stereotype of drug use once so common is the cause of today’s more cavalier attitudes.

One page click away from the Box report on ESPN.com can take a user to an embedded video with pre-roll advertising for The Hangover 2. The juxtaposition of somber reality, and comedy based on guys getting so trashed they can’t remember the previous night has me reeling. Substance abuse has long been comedic fodder, and comedy helps us cope with that which most frustrates, frightens or bewilders us. But even in other ventures of media, the attitude toward substance abuse is one of almost reverence.

Two months ago, you couldn’t turn on a television or read a magazine without seeing Charlie Sheen’s face. His ramblings and stories of drug-filled escapades had America-at-large enthralled. Ron Paul’s presidential candidacy includes a platform of legalizing all drugs, thereby ending the “War on Drugs.” That’s well documented. What isn’t well documented what his, or any other politicians’ plans for educating the populace on drug use is. Part of the theory behind legalizing drugs is freedom to make our own choices. Yes, it’s a choice, but the freedom to make an educated choice is what’s lacking.

Substance abuse is something at which we either marvel or cower in fear and disgust. It should be neither. Perhaps better understanding drug abuse, all forms of it, from a younger age is key to education and thus some elimination of premature deaths.

If it means one less family having to lose a loved one, it’s worth it. We hope you find the peace you were seeking, Austin Box.