SALT LAKE CITY — Stanley Havili had a bright future in front of him.

A former All-Pac 12 fullback in a standout career at Southern California, Havili was a seventh-round pick in the 2011 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He ended his USC career with the most receptions by a fullback in school history.

The former Cottonwood High standout signed a four-year rookie contract in 2011, and spent time floating between the Eagles' active roster and practice squad before being released for the final time Jan. 2, 2012.

So how did he get to be unemployed, without a family, and living in a Park City hotel room with nothing but prescription painkillers to keep him company?

It all went back to an injury he suffered playing against the New England Patriots, he said. Doctors in the NFL prescribed a normal amount of prescription painkillers to ease his recovery — percocet, acetaminophen; nothing out of the ordinary from traditional medicinal practices.

"When I got to the league, I thought I was unique. I thought if I took opioids as prescribed, it wouldn’t be a problem."

But the problems endured.

Havili struggled with injuries for his entire NFL career. After a trade to the Indianapolis Colts failed to revitalize his career in 2013, he signed with the Seattle Seahawks' practice squad in November 2014.

He was cut less than a month later.

Battered, hobbled and with a reliance on prescription painkillers, Havili’s life became a downward spiral.

"Within a year and a half, I was kicked out of my house, kicked out of the NFL, and I was living in a Park City hotel room," he told KSL Sports. "I thought I was the only one — that pride and disease of addiction can spin thinking. … I tried to kill myself three years ago.

"I just took 180 pills and called it a day."

Havili’s life didn’t end that day. Instead, he met with former BYU standout and current local broadcaster Alema Harrington, who sat down with Havili and told him he wasn’t alone. Prescription drug abuse is a common problem, not the least of which is in Utah, and he knew of some places to get help.

The conversation saved Havili's life — and now he’s out to repay the debt.

"Seek out and get help. You guys aren’t the only ones," Havili said. "Not being able to correct this path only creates more guilt and shame. People have families and kids, but they can’t stop buying dope off the street."

Finding help

Havili isn’t in the NFL today, but he is working for Reflections Recovery in Utah County, where he counsels young adults — some as young as 18 years old, he says — about the dangers of prescription drug abuse.

Through his work and a partnership with the Ron McBride Foundation, he wants to set the record straight for thousands of Utahns who may find themselves in similar paths.

It will never correct the past; but Havili hopes his experience can save others, just as Harrington’s outreach saved his own life years ago.

In the year 2016, nearly 500 people died of opioid-related overdoses in Utah — roughly 16.4 deaths per capita and three more than the national average, according to the Utah Department of Health.

The Beehive State has the seventh-highest drug overdose rate in the United States, according to the Utah Department of Health, and nearly six Utahns died every week from overdoses, based on numbers compiled after the 2016 calendar year.

"When you look at more hospitalization and trauma, we still don’t have legislation that can address (opioid abuse)," said Dave Compton, the executive director of the Ron McBride Foundation, which seeks to tackle the issue. "We've got to be teaching to behaviors; that’s fundamental."

Havili never relied on prescription drugs until college and the NFL. But he affirms the downward spiral that took him to that Park City hotel room didn’t start when he took his first pill.

It started much earlier — and that’s where McBride wants to change the issue, with education for children as young as 5 years old through high school.

"We're approaching the issue through education," said McBride, the former Utah and Weber State head coach who describes going to funerals for former players and recruits as young as 18 years old who overdosed on prescription drugs. "I've learned of my players who now have kids who have been addicted to pain meds. This is an issue."

Going back to school

Opioids like percocet and oxycontin are highly addictive narcotic substances prescribed to treat pain.

The longer the human body relies on opioids for pain management — such as that handled during the course of a football career, for example — the more tolerance the body builds up toward the medication. That means more drugs are required to feel the same effect.

Tolerance can grow even after the maximum prescribed dosage has been reached, and increasing tolerance can lead to physical dependence, addiction, abuse and overdose.

But knowing is half the battle, McBride says, and that’s why his foundation is taking the fight to school districts in Salt Lake City and Ogden, among others, at the moment.

"Coach’s passion is about education and getting young people into a healthy lifestyle early," Compton said. "Our focus has been going to the school districts, starting at K-through-5 and then up to 12th grade, to look at this as not just a drug problem — but a system issue to tackle early on."

'Don’t play'

Havili, 30, has a simple answer when mothers and fathers ask him how they can help their aspiring pro athlete children avoid the path to prescription drug abuse.

"Don’t play football," he said — partially in jest, but with a touch of seriousness, as well.

For those who believe in the positive life lessons learned from football and other sports, like McBride, there are other things that can be done.

Among the education is knowing when a young athlete may be approaching the level of dependency that leads to addiction. Coaches, athletic trainers and team doctors — even teachers and parents, in most cases — can monitor prescription intake and notice if a child’s behavior changes erratically, for example.

"You have to be really careful," McBride said.

Careful or not, Havili said anyone struggling with prescription drug abuse should always remember one thing: they are not alone.

There are people ready and willing to reach out, at a moment’s notice, including him.

"I don’t blame anyone for my choices," Havili said. "I own them. But that’s part of my recovery, too."

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