The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Langhorne talks about his battle with alcohol
Ex-Browns receiver in report: ‘ I had maybe 10 rock bottoms’
Reggie Langhorne has been sober for six years. But it was a long, hard struggle to get to that point.
Reggie Langhorne, a wide receiver who played in three AFC championship games with the Browns from 1986-89, has an easy smile he can turn on like a light switch.
It is a smile that comes in handy for Langhorne as a car salesman in suburban Cleveland and as a panelist on “Tailgate 19,” a pregame television show on WOIOTV 19 before the Browns play.
So why write about Langhorne in early June, almost 30 years after his final catch as a Browns’ player in 1991? Because in a story published June 1 by Yahoo Sports, Langhorne, 57, unburdened himself of a secret he kept since abruptly retiring from football in 1994 after two seasons with the Colts.
Langhorne said he became an alcoholic after signing with the Colts as a “Plan B” free agent in 1992. He said his addiction was gradual, but before long was out of control.
“Before you realize it, you’re doing that all the time,” Langhorne told Frank Schwab of Yahoo Sports. “Before I realized it, that obsession with drinking was a problem.”
Athletes in recent years have become unashamed to admit they are fragile on the inside, though they are physical specimens on the outside. Cavaliers’ star Kevin Love opened up in March 2018 about suffering a panic attack during a game with the Hawks in March 2017. Love has been at the forefront of encouraging anyone with mental health issues, athletes and non-athletes alike, to seek help.
Langhorne said he started drinking because he felt alone after moving to Indianapolis. He missed his teammates and friends he made in Cleveland.
Langhorne failed a drug test with the Colts in the 1994 offseason. He was faced with a fourgame suspension. Instead of taking his punishment, he retired at age 31 after the best season of his nine-year career – 85 catches for 1,038 yards.
“I didn’t want my mom to know (about the failed drug test),” said Langhorne, who grew up in Suffolk, Va. “If this got out, my mom would be somewhat shamed.”
Langhorne was actually cut by the Colts, who went through a salary purge in 1994, after the failed test. He had chances to play for other teams, but did not accept any offers. He learned fading into retirement was not the way to deal with his drinking problem.
The good news is Langhorne has been sober for six years. But it was a long, hard struggle to get to that point.
“It took me years to get over the depression and holding onto that secret,” Langhorne said. “It took me to a deeper hole.
“People die from drinking alcohol every day. I was in a bad, bad place. You think you’ll fix yourself. But then you go five years, 10 years, 15 years down the road and you say, ‘Whoa, I’m out of control.’ I had maybe 10 rock bottoms.”
Langhorne was once hit by a car while riding his bicycle to the liquor store. Neighbors once found him passed out in the snow. He was hospitalized seven times in 14 months with a blood disorder, according to the Yahoo story.
“I think now, ‘You must have been crazy,’” Langhorne said. “If it was anybody else, I’d think you have to be crazy to do this to yourself. But you can’t see it when you’re the one doing it.”
Langhorne returned to his Cleveland-area comfort zone after retiring. He said attempts at rehab did not work because he wasn’t
committed to being cured. But finally, one day, his friend and former teammate, Kevin Mack, showed up at his front door when Langhorne hit another low point. Mack helped Langhorne get into a program at Lutheran Hospital in Cleveland.
“He showed up at my door — he smiles all the time — he smiled at me and said, ‘Let’s try something different,’ “Langhorne said. “I started to listen. I started to take directions. I got honest with myself and realized I had a major problem.
“When I got to Cleveland (as a rookie seventh-round draft choice in 1985), I was coachable. I wanted it and put everything I had into getting it. That’s how I approach sobriety now.
“I’m not fixed. I’m always going to be an alcoholic. It takes an absolute commitment to be all-in. It’s a way of living.”