‘Isn’t the Life I Envisioned’: Ex-NFL Player Eric Stevens on ALS Struggle, Road Ahead

In what may be the final years of his life, 33-year-old Eric Stevens hopes to leave a lasting impact in the fight against a disease that’s slowly destroying his body.

The once burly NFL fullback and firefighter from Southern California has relied on his wife, Amanda, to feed and bathe him after he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), better known as Lou Gehrig's disease, four years ago.

"I want people to know how brutal this disease is and what it does to perfectly healthy, young bodies," Eric tells The Messenger.

"If people knew and saw what ALS does to an individual and their family, there would be a much larger push for research and finding a cure."

Amanda, a former college soccer player, first met Eric when they were student-athletes at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2010.

"It's just crazy to see what this has done to his body," says Amanda. "But he's still here, and that's all that matters."

Eric played for Cal's football team, appearing in 23 games over four seasons from 2008 to 2011. He spent time as the team's top fullback before a knee injury caused him to miss his final season at the university.

“It was like that love-at-first-sight moment, the kind you read about and see in movies and stuff — we were immediately attracted to each other,” Amanda recalls of Eric, who asked her out following a game. 

As they saw more of each other, Amanda fell in love as Eric showed her his sweet side off the field.

“He was muscular and athletic, but then deep down, he was like this sweetheart that would like to do those extra things that showed that he cared about me,” she says, adding that he often left her notes and flowers by her bedside table. “Honestly, that's what helped us continue to stay together.”

The two went on to date long-distance after Eric joined the practice squad of the then-St. Louis Rams in 2013, while she stayed in California to become a second-grade teacher.

Eric returned to California two years later and joined the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Then, during a trip to Tennessee in 2018, Eric proposed to Amanda along the same pedestrian bridge in Nashville where he first told her he loved her. (Eric’s brother, longtime Tennessee Titans player Craig Stevens, was on hand to take pictures of the moment.)

Less than a year later, the first signs of the disease appeared when Eric began dropping tools at the fire station and could not open jars in the kitchen.

At the time, concern about the symptoms took a backseat as the couple prepared for their July wedding.

When he noticed his triceps and biceps twitching nonstop during their honeymoon in Montana, Eric’s health could no longer be ignored.

Soon, he had difficulty enunciating words and couldn't balance himself on a surfboard.

Doctors confirmed Eric's ALS diagnosis on Aug. 27, 2019, exactly one month after the couple's wedding.

"They said there's nothing more we could do and that they were sorry," Amanda says while fighting back her tears. "It was horrible. It was the worst day of our lives."

ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells controlling muscle movement, leading to the loss of motor function, speech and, eventually, the ability to breathe.

American baseball great Lou Gehrig's 17-season career for the New York Yankees ended abruptly in 1939 after he developed the then-mysterious disease, which hindered his performance on the field and later became associated with his name.

According to the ALS Association, about 5,000 Americans receive an ALS diagnosis annually. The disease usually claims the lives of those diagnosed within three to five years and has no known cure.

"I try to remain positive and have gratitude for each day I'm here," Eric tells The Messenger.

"I try to focus on one day at a time, even one moment at a time," he continues. "That's all I can do — be grateful for the day and the time I have."

Since the diagnosis, the couple had their first child, daughter Peyton, in January 2021, and have pursued and advocated for access to experimental treatments that may help slow the disease's progression.

"Although this isn't the life I envisioned, I'm so grateful to have Amanda and Peyton by my side," Eric says.

"When you're hit with something like this, you're forced to step back and put everything in perspective," he adds. "When it all comes down to it, what matters is your family, friends, and loved ones."

Eric and Amanda have appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show, met with politicians in Washington D.C., and founded a nonprofit, AXE ALS, to help other families affected by the disease and raise money for research.

A GoFundMe campaign they created has raised nearly $1.3 million as of May 2023.

In April, the Federal Drug Administration approved an ALS drug called Qalsody that could help a small percentage of patients.

One clinical trial for ALS patients, NurOwn, may have potentially slowed Eric's symptoms and improved his quality of life, Amanda says.

For her, it only stresses the importance of treatment access.

"We're trying to make the best of it as we can," she says, “and we just want to leave ALS better than how we found it."