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<\/p>\nTIMMONSVILLE, S.C. \u2014 It all began here for John Abraham, in a modest house built by his grandfather, surrounded by dirt roads and tobacco fields, not far from a gas station with no sign in a town where gnats swarm.<\/p>\n
Abraham began working in those fields when he was 5. He helped his grandfather nail shingles on roofs, change the oil in farmers\u2019 pickup trucks, unclog drains and scrub toilets in the local schools. As he grew, he cleaned dishes in a restaurant kitchen and made it your way at a fast-food burger joint, anything to help his mother pay the bills.<\/p>\n
When he discovered football in his senior year at Lamar High School, it was an escape from work. Abraham felt such joy from the game that he was OK with getting home from practice at 10 p.m. after waiting hours for a friend, cousin, neighbor \u2014 anyone \u2014 to pick him up and drive him nine miles back to Timmonsville. He played so hard and well that they eventually displayed his jersey number on the stadium press box. It\u2019s still there, next to Levon Kirkland\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Then came the losses. His last two years at South Carolina, the team lost 21 of 22 games. When the Jets were losing his first NFL preseason game, he shed tears on the sideline. He couldn\u2019t take it anymore.<\/p>\n
Abraham learned to lose. And then he learned to win. He played 15 NFL seasons, became known as one of the most feared pass rushers in the game and finished with 133.5 sacks \u2014 13th most since the statistic became official 43 years ago.<\/p>\n
But there was a steep price, beyond the millions of dollars squandered on bad investments, family and friends with hands out, dozens of fines for ignoring rules and a life in the fast lane. He also paid with a brain that bled on both sides, stolen memories, the indignity of seeing his mug shot on the local news, the treadmill that was thrown in his pool, credit cards and phones he kept losing, punched-out car windows and the attempt to get himself shot and killed.<\/p>\n
For a long time, Abraham didn\u2019t want to return home.<\/p>\n
He liked big-city action.<\/p>\n
Now? A small town doesn\u2019t seem so bad.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the 13th pick of the 2000 draft, the New York Jets select outside linebacker John Abraham, South Carolina,\u201d NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced at the Theater at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n
Angry Jets fans filled the arena with boos.<\/p>\n
Tagliabue\u2019s pronouncement didn\u2019t sound so good to Abraham, either.<\/p>\n
John Abraham.<\/p>\n
He hated being called that. Still does.<\/p>\n
For much of his youth, he was Tony. His full name is John Antonio Nettles-Abraham, and he didn\u2019t know he was John until a high school teacher started calling him that so he wouldn\u2019t be confused with another Tony.<\/p>\n
His father\u2019s name was Curly John Nettles, and they called him \u201cMan\u201d even though he didn\u2019t act much like one. Abraham estimates he saw Man once a year during his childhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember hugs, him being cool or saying, \u2018Tony, I love you.\u2019\u201d Abraham says. \u201cThe only thing I remember is him being drunk and abusive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Man walked down Abraham\u2019s block occasionally. When Abraham was about 7, his mother yelled at him about picking up after his newly adopted puppy in the yard. Man heard the commotion and rushed over.<\/p>\n
For the 30 years that followed, Abraham couldn\u2019t be around dogs. He thought he was afraid of them. Eventually, he realized his fear emanated from seeing Man stomp his puppy to death.<\/p>\n
Man lived with his mother his whole life, unable to make it on his own. Abraham\u2019s mother, Maggie Lee Abraham, didn\u2019t want her son to be a \u201cmama\u2019s boy\u201d like Man, so she was intentionally cold to her son.<\/p>\n
Abraham believes he never learned about love, how to receive or give it. He has jumped from relationship to relationship in his adult life without ever committing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI should have been a married man, a happy man,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I think I run away from love.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
John Abraham\u2019s mother, Maggie Lee, was intentionally cold to him as a child. At 47, he still needs her love and approval. (Dan Pompei \/ The Athletic)<\/p>\n
When Abraham went to high school, Maggie Lee didn\u2019t want him to play football, so he played basketball and ran track, setting a South Carolina high school record with a time of 22.6 seconds in the 200-meter dash. She relented his senior year, and then, with just 22 boys on the team, Abraham played defensive end, wide receiver and kicker, and even ran some plays at quarterback.<\/p>\n
At 6-foot-4 and 195 pounds, his instinct was to rush the passer the way he drove the hoop \u2014 slithering around obstacles with smooth, graceful movements and unexpected bursts.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople think because you\u2019re big, you have to be this predator type person, very aggressive,\u201d he says. \u201cIn my mind, I wasn\u2019t that.\u201d<\/p>\n
His way worked. Clemson wanted him, and he wanted to go there. But then a coach from South Carolina came to his mother\u2019s living room with the Holy Bible on the coffee table and sprinkled his recruiting pitch to her with \u201camens\u201d and \u201challelujahs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maggie Lee told her son that if he went to Clemson, she would not visit him there, but she would be happy to make the drive to Columbia if he attended South Carolina. So he became a Gamecock.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn college, he was a shy, quiet, country boy, and Columbia was like a big city to him,\u201d says Tarika Worthy, who met Abraham at the start of their freshman year at South Carolina. Three decades later, Abraham calls Worthy his sister. She also could be called a business associate, unofficial therapist and guardian angel.<\/p>\n
Abraham never drank in college. Then came the night he was drafted. He was at a party in a Columbia hotel with Shaun Ellis, whom the Jets drafted one pick ahead of Abraham, and other friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just remember a lot of champagne,\u201d Abraham says. \u201cI don\u2019t remember anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of his Jets coaches instructed him to rush the passer by slamming the crown of his helmet into the upper chest of blockers. His NFL playing weight was between 240 and 250 pounds and Abraham still thought of himself as a basketball player in pads, but he did as he was told, banging his helmet into massive opposing linemen thousands of times for years, ignoring the stars that swirled around his head after every collision.<\/p>\n
The man who drafted Abraham, Bill Parcells, was known for bringing out the best in Lawrence Taylor, arguably the greatest edge rusher in history. Parcells, who was the Jets\u2019 general manager at the time, goaded Abraham to push himself as he had done with Taylor.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you lift your grandma\u2019s skirt yet?\u201d Parcells asked him.<\/p>\n
Abraham wasn\u2019t motivated by sarcasm. Concerned that others thought he wasn\u2019t strong enough, he stopped lifting weights in front of the team and instead worked on his own, away from the facility.<\/p>\n
He was a handful for opponents from the start. In Abraham\u2019s second game, the Jets had a one-point lead over the Patriots with 1:28 left. On fourth down, Abraham sacked Drew Bledsoe to effectively end the game. Two weeks later, against the Bucs, he sacked and stripped Shaun King to preserve a four-point lead with 52 seconds left. That was his first of 47 forced fumbles, which is the third most all time.<\/p>\n
Abraham had 4.5 sacks by the sixth game when he tore a groin muscle. It meant the end of his rookie season and the beginning of a new lifestyle.<\/p>\n
He was stunned by the culture of the Jets. So many players were drinkers, hard-core partiers. Everything that could derail him was easily available. He was encouraged to act like a big-city big shot.<\/p>\n
After surgery to repair his muscle tear, the painkillers weren\u2019t doing it. He tried drinking instead, and alcohol made him feel better than the meds. Abraham developed a taste for an imported cognac aged in French oak barrels. Eventually, he had the word \u201cHennessy\u201d tattooed on the inside of his left arm.<\/p>\n
As he recovered, he had a lot of time \u2014 too much. Teammates invited him to party with them. Abraham had social anxiety, but he liked strip clubs because the attention was on women in G-strings, not him, and the Hennessy he sipped helped him loosen up.<\/p>\n
Worthy says she never thought Abraham had a dependency problem, but drinking resulted in him \u201cputting on a mask and becoming a different person.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought drinking would make me seem manly,\u201d he says. \u201cSo it was a lot of drinking, a lot of sex with different women, smoking cigars. I did this because I didn\u2019t have a definition of a man.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his rookie season, Abraham read a story about Deion Sanders trying to improve his relationship with his father and wanted to do the same. He and Man had a common bond now \u2014 alcohol. So he picked up Man and they drank together until impulsivity overcame inhibition and Man asked him for money. Abraham didn\u2019t want Man in his life after all, he thought.<\/p>\n
Man was one of many family members who wanted something from Abraham. He gave to many.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of having my mind totally set on being great, I wanted to save everyone,\u201d he says. \u201cIt took a lot out of me.\u201d<\/p>\n
When he was drafted, Abraham received a $2 million signing bonus. In his second season, he had 13 sacks and six forced fumbles, making the first of five Pro Bowls and three All-Pro teams. By his third season, he was broke, mostly, he says, because of advisers who took advantage of him and made suspect investments.<\/p>\n
On his way home from Gentlemen\u2019s Quarters in Long Island in 2003, Abraham drove his new silver Hummer into a fire hydrant and a light pole and was charged with driving while intoxicated. He was playing well that year, with six sacks in six games, when another groin injury ended his season.<\/p>\n
Two years later, Abraham wanted a change, and the Jets were happy to facilitate a trade. The Seahawks flew him to Seattle in a private jet. Then the Falcons had another meet him in Seattle to take him to Atlanta. Abraham wanted to play in Atlanta because it was a few hours from home. The Falcons agreed to give the Jets a first-round pick and pay Abraham $45 million over six years.<\/p>\n
The Falcons seemed perfect for him. Shortly before the trade, Atlanta hired Kevin Winston as its director of player affairs \u2014 Winston had a similar role with the Jets and was familiar with Abraham\u2019s personality and tendencies. Two years later, Mike Smith became the Falcons\u2019 head coach, and his avuncular sensitivity was just what Abraham needed. He was also reunited with defensive line coach Ray \u201cSugar Bear\u201d Hamilton, who had coached him and bonded with him early in his days with the Jets.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
John Abraham takes down Saints quarterback Drew Brees for one of his 133.5 career sacks. (Kevin C. Cox \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
In Abraham\u2019s first game as a Falcon, he had two sacks against the Panthers. Then groin issues flared again, and he broke his thumb. He played only eight games that season. After he was arrested for driving while intoxicated back in his Jets days, Abraham was subject to random testing by the NFL, so he curtailed his drinking. During his first season with the Falcons, he went back to the bottle.<\/p>\n
In Atlanta, Abraham felt safe doing things he shouldn\u2019t have been doing because the shadowy characters at the clubs had his back.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou weren\u2019t going to hear about whatever happened,\u201d Worthy says. \u201cAnd that can make a person feel invincible.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was late for team functions, fell asleep in meetings and skipped substance tests (he says he did not take illegal drugs). Over his career, Abraham, in the estimate of one source, was fined more than $1 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe drinking didn\u2019t impact his ability to practice and perform, but it did impact his life,\u201d says Rich McKay, who was the team\u2019s general manager at the time and now is its CEO. \u201cI would get nervous when I was told he went to South Carolina because a lot of times when he came back, he didn\u2019t look so good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abraham felt a pull to Man again. It had been about 10 years since he last tried to reconcile, and his father had never seen him play a football game. He brought Man to one of his games, and they drank together after. Man, who was in a wheelchair after having his legs amputated because of diabetes, stayed with his son and, in the middle of the night, caused a disturbance, demanding that Abraham wait on him. Abraham had had enough. He sent his father away and never reconnected. Man died in 2014.<\/p>\n
In early 2013, Abraham was coming off a 10-sack season and had more career sacks for the Falcons, 68.5, than any player in their history. But he was soon to be 35 years old, and the team had had enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it had a lot to do with my off-the-field issues,\u201d he says of being cut.<\/p>\n
As a free agent, Abraham drew interest from multiple teams, including the Dolphins and Patriots, for whom he badly wanted to play. However, he said he \u201cself-sabotaged\u201d by not showing up for meetings and having a bad attitude. He got an audience with Patriots coach Bill Belichick in New England, stepped on a scale weighing 220 pounds and never received an offer.<\/p>\n
When he was visiting the Cardinals, he received a text. Abraham had taken in one of his troubled nephews, and the nephew had thrown a party at Abraham\u2019s in Flowery Branch, Ga. \u2014 a \u201cProject X\u201d party, Abraham called it, referring to the motion picture. They threw a treadmill and television sets into the indoor pool, scattered his clothes and stole his memorabilia \u2014 including Pro Bowl mementos, game balls, signed jerseys and footballs from teammates, as well as his high school and college jerseys.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy house was so lovely, right off Lake Lanier,\u201d he says. \u201cLoved that house. I had a nice little pond in the front. They destroyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abraham had the house locked down and sold it.<\/p>\n
The Cardinals took a chance on him and were rewarded with 11.5 sacks and Abraham made the Pro Bowl. But Abraham was partying more and feeling unstable emotionally. And if Atlanta was a city of eye-winking enablers, Phoenix had a bead on him wherever he went. He was warned by upper management that he was being watched.<\/p>\n
Abraham loved Atlanta and never stopped calling it home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he was cut by the Falcons, that broke his heart,\u201d Worthy says. \u201cEven though Arizona embraced him, he couldn\u2019t get over his ex.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the summer of 2014, he was arrested in Georgia and charged with drunken driving after being found sleeping behind the wheel at an intersection. He missed nearly three weeks of training camp with the Cardinals while in rehab.<\/p>\n
In the Cardinals\u2019 first game of the 2014 season, Abraham\u2019s head hit the hip of Chargers offensive tackle D.J. Fluker. The collision didn\u2019t appear particularly violent, but Abraham lay on the ground face up for a time. It was a concussion and he eventually was told his brain was bleeding on both sides.<\/p>\n
Abraham didn\u2019t want to admit what he was feeling. He had been conditioned to play through concussion symptoms \u2014 if someone complained, he was being a \u201cpunk.\u201d He says when he was with the Jets and told a coach his vision was blurred after a blow to the head, the coach accused him of faking.<\/p>\n
He never played again after the first game of 2014, and he walked off the NFL stage without so much as a bow. Abraham wishes the end hadn\u2019t come so abruptly. Already struggling with depression, he spiraled.<\/p>\n
Abraham went into a nine-year fog, unable to see or think clearly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt literally felt I was always like this,\u201d he says, closing his eyelids almost entirely.<\/p>\n
He has scars on his fingers, knuckles and wrist. He isn\u2019t sure how they got there. Some undoubtedly were from punching out car windows, which he did repeatedly when feeling claustrophobic.<\/p>\n
Differentiating between dreams and reality was a challenge, and for many years, he continued to be a football player in his mind, uncontrollably. He would play an entire game in a dream, wake up and think he had to go to practice. He woke once to find nine slash marks in his mattress. Probably a bad dream, he figured. Some of his dreams were so vile. A bullet piercing his flesh. Falling from a rooftop. Death.<\/p>\n
Abraham had a magnificent collection of blades \u2014 pocket knives, multi-tool knives, switchblades, hunting knives and even Samurai swords \u2014 more than 100 in total. They had to go.<\/p>\n
In 2018, Abraham began contemplating ending it. He gave away many of his valuable possessions \u2014 watches, chains, clothes, cars \u2014 as if preparing to die. His condominium was on the 23rd floor, and he thought about jumping. \u201cMy heart would pump so hard,\u201d he says. If he became too agitated, he would crawl under his bed, lock himself in his closet, sit in the lobby downstairs, or call 911 to have someone talk to him. Doctors warned Abraham that more head trauma could kill him. So he banged his head on walls or tables.<\/p>\n
In Georgia, the 1013 law enables someone who fears they are a danger to themselves to initiate an involuntary mental health assessment. Worthy\u2019s intention was to get 1013 help for the second time on July 31, 2020. She drove from Columbia to Atlanta and took him to Piedmont Hospital, where she dropped him off (she couldn\u2019t accompany him because it was during the COVID-19 pandemic) and he told the staff he needed help. He says they weren\u2019t very responsive. Anxious and frustrated, he walked out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t see tomorrow,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was pretty much over for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the drop-off area in front of the emergency room, a policeman stood with his back to him. Abraham approached the cop and reached for his gun, thinking the cop would beat him to it and kill him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe swung on me,\u201d Abraham says. \u201cI just fell back thinking he was going to shoot me, waiting for him to shoot. He didn\u2019t shoot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, the officer brought Abraham back into the hospital. As he lay in the bed, he made a vow \u2014 \u201cPlease, God,\u201d he said, \u201chelp me with my mental health and I will not drink again.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was sent to Black Bear Lodge, an addiction treatment center in the foothills of northern Georgia. He stayed there for a month, thinking about wanting to kill himself. After being released, he wasn\u2019t drinking, but he wasn\u2019t in a good place. He isolated himself, didn\u2019t shower and ate erratically.<\/p>\n
Abraham agreed to spend a month in Colorado\u2019s ski country at All Points North, a facility that focuses on treatment for mental health, addiction and trauma. It took two more month-long stays for him to connect with his therapist and embrace what was offered. Abraham learned to use dialectical behavior therapy to help regulate his emotions and cognitive behavioral therapy to identify and redirect negative thinking patterns. His depression and emotional swings were addressed with deep transcranial magnetic stimulation, which uses electrical impulses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat pretty much saved my life,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_0909-scaled.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
John Abraham, outside his childhood home in Timmonsville, S.C., says, \u201cI want people to know I\u2019m better, but not my best yet.\u201d (Dan Pompei \/ The Athletic)<\/p>\n
Socializing with old teammates can be awkward. They tell stories from their shared time, and Abraham usually doesn\u2019t have much to contribute.<\/p>\n
During his career, he studied the plays when he was blocked and beaten, and glossed over the ones that made fans leap from their seats and high-five strangers. Now, Abraham watches YouTube videos of his career to help him recall the kind of player he was.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a lot of good days,\u201d Abraham says. \u201cI just can\u2019t remember them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Others can.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought he was an awesome player,\u201d Hall of Fame offensive tackle Joe Thomas says. \u201cHe reminded me of DeMarcus Ware with his get-off and his short-area quickness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sugar Bear Hamilton, who spent 36 years in the NFL as a player and coach, says Abraham was the quickest player he ever saw out of a two-point stance, and one of the best finishers on the quarterback.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a natural pass rusher, he was no doubt the best I was around,\u201d Hamilton says. \u201cHe was right there with all those guys from that era, Bruce Smith, Chris Doleman, Jared Allen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Between the start of his career and the end, the only player with more sacks was Allen, who had one-half more. Abraham finished with one more sack than Lawrence Taylor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a fantastic player,\u201d McKay says. \u201cHe had speed as well as power. He loved the game and was able to raise his performance in the fourth quarter. He played at the highest level on the biggest stage for a lot of years. It\u2019s a credit to him despite all he faced.\u201d<\/p>\n
Panthers offensive tackle Jordan Gross says Abraham was as difficult to block as anyone he faced, while putting Julius Peppers in a separate category because he was bigger than the others.<\/p>\n
Gross says other offensive tackles in the NFL often asked his advice before facing Abraham. They had a nickname for his hellacious bullrush \u2014 the \u201cteleport,\u201d they called it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had to get out of your stance quickly because he had so much length and speed, so he would be two yards away from you running straight upfield, and then instantly he would teleport into a down-the-middle-of-your-chest bullrush,\u201d Gross says. \u201cIt was one of the best bullrushes of anybody. I saw many offensive tackles end up on their backs because of that move.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas, Hamilton, McKay and Gross believe Abraham is worthy of induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has never been a semifinalist.<\/p>\n
Abraham has lofty desires \u2014 he wants to wear a gold jacket. And he has humble aspirations \u2014 he hopes his four daughters, Andrea, 24, Ayumi, 16, Jole, 9, and McKenzie, 1 1\/2, are not embarrassed by him. And if by some grace they could be proud of him, his suffering would have been worthwhile.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, it\u2019s hard for me to be open about some things in my life,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m not the most comfortable with myself. But I\u2019m talking about myself more for my kids. It\u2019s not about me. I don\u2019t want them to think they can\u2019t overcome something.\u201d<\/p>\n
A while back, Abraham misplaced his wallet.<\/p>\n
He wept. And wept and wept.<\/p>\n
During the worst times, he lost phones almost weekly. He has a drawer full of credit cards, maybe 40 of them, that he left somewhere and had to cancel. When his wallet went missing, he had not lost anything in more than a year. It hurt to lose something again. But the episode was also a reminder of his progress. His prayer is that the crashing waves of his life are doing to him what the sea does to a jagged rock, making a polished stone.<\/p>\n
Abraham still has moments. But he has the tools to fight through. He still sees his therapist from All Points North and uses dialectical and cognitive behavioral therapy. He practices mindfulness, which helps him focus.<\/p>\n
Abraham believes he never had a problem with addiction, but he knows he shouldn\u2019t drink. He says he has not been to a strip club in more than five years, and alcohol has not touched his lips since he reached for that cop\u2019s gun and made that oath. Abraham has seen videos of drunk drivers, and he has been aghast. He thinks about how fortunate he was to have never injured anyone while driving after drinking.<\/p>\n
His relationship with his mother is better, he says. Now they have open conversations about why she raised him the way she did. At 47, he still needs her love and approval.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has been a real upgoing man,\u201d says Maggie Lee, who lives in a Timmonsville house he bought for her. \u201cI can say he\u2019s a true man. I\u2019m proud for what he\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
He could point a finger at Maggie Lee.<\/p>\n
Or at Man.<\/p>\n
Or at that small town.<\/p>\n
Or at anyone who ever handed him a shot.<\/p>\n
Or at the concussion culture of his era.<\/p>\n
Or at the NFL\u2019s meat grinder.<\/p>\n
Or at those leeches who took, took, took.<\/p>\n
He won\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll take the responsibility,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Abraham is serving 120 hours of community service at the Atlanta Community Food Bank because of a 2018 obstruction charge for refusing to leave a taped-off area beneath where a person was threatening to jump. He packs and stacks boxes of food, cleans and tidies, and takes out the trash.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can tell he lives with a lot of regret,\u201d Worthy says. \u201cIt\u2019s hard for him to move forward, but he\u2019s making progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
After he retired, Abraham withdrew from football \u2014 he couldn\u2019t watch a game without breaking out in a sweat and feeling triggered. He\u2019s finally comfortable being around the sport again. He has dabbled in broadcasting, made appearances for the Falcons and Jets and coached and mentored prospects in the NFL\u2019s International Pathway Program.<\/p>\n
In May, he wore a cap with a tassel, walked across a stage and extended a hand. He now holds a degree from the University of South Carolina in Liberal Studies, with an emphasis on psychology and sociology. His capstone project was on cognitive behavioral therapy.<\/p>\n
Abraham is stretching himself \u2014 learning piano, juggling and sign language. He does car karaoke with his daughters \u2014 they sing Adele songs. He recently competed on two TV game shows, \u201cPictionary\u201d and \u201cScrambled Up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI want people to know I\u2019m better, but not my best yet,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
He is trying to envision his best. Perhaps it can happen in a place with less noise, congestion and danger.<\/p>\n
He talks about trying to find that place.<\/p>\n
If he does, everything could begin again for Abraham in a small town.<\/p>\n
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.<\/p>\n
(Top photo: George Gojkovich \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TIMMONSVILLE, S.C. \u2014 It all began here for John Abraham, in a modest house built by his grandfather,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":253244,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[7140,6328,1318,1317,1315,1316,5287,1232,24116,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-253243","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-arizona-cardinals","9":"tag-atlanta-falcons","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-ncaa","12":"tag-ncaa-football","13":"tag-ncaafootball","14":"tag-new-york-jets","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-south-carolina-gamecocks","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115264177037218100","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}