Pedersen shares sobering story of career downfall caused by alcohol
An out of control drinking problem ended the broadcasting career of Rod Pedersen and cost him a shot at his dream job.
But after hitting rock bottom and transitioning into a new career as a Sober Coach, Pedersen does not shy away from sharing the lows of his alcoholism.
“I don’t find it difficult at all from the moment I gave my first speech about getting sober,” he said. “I lived 25 years in shame and guilt, and I’m not going to live the next 25 that way. So if it helps somebody along the way I’m going to do it.”
“I don’t want anybody to go through what I went through in terms of the mental health issues and the alcoholism. It’s on me that I went through it. But there weren’t the resources back then when I was a teenager that there are now for kids.”
“So the reason I’m talking to so many people, particularly young people, is that I don’t want to see them lose their dreams and I definitely don’t want to see them lose whatever is dear to them.”
Pedersen was brought into Swift Current by the Drug Strategy Action Committee for a community presentation on Sunday night, and a pair of speaking session to students from the Swift Current Comprehensive High School on Monday morning.
Pedersen was a fast rising play-byplay voice, becoming the voice of the WHL Prince Albert Raiders at the age of 20, and when he was 22 he became the play-by-play man for the Regina Pats for the next 15 seasons. At the age of 26 he began a 20 season association as the voice of the CFL’S Saskatchewan Roughriders, and had career highs of calling Grey Cup wins in 2007 and 2013.
However he recalled lows of waking up drunk in ditches and on benches, and his out of control drinking ended his dream of being a play-by-play voice of a National Hockey League team when they learned about the extent of his drinking problem. Once he lost out on that job he began drinking daily.
“I look back and say it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Years later, because it caused my rock bottom, it got me into recovery.”
He recalls having anxiety and other issues as a teenager, and discovered alcohol at the age of 16 as a way to mask his mental health issues. However, the second time he drank he got blackout drunk, and he frequently followed that pattern.
Thankfully, the message from a motivational speaker when he was a young student stuck with him and he never got into harder drugs despite their availability.
“That guy when I was nine who told me not to do drugs, I don’t even know his name, he saved my life,” he said. “If some kid can look back and say ‘this guy one day in Swift Current told me this, and that’s what I’m going to do and it changed my life,’ I would like to pay forward what he did for me.”
Back in 2017 he founded Pedersen Recovery Inc., and he now works as a Sober Coach for individuals battling addictions and mental illness.
“Every dream, every goal I had I blew out of the water because of my own actions. So everybody asks me now what’s your goal. I don’t have one. Every morning when I get up out of bed I try to be a good person and I help people. And you know what, it’s going pretty good.”
“I would tell anybody just thinking about making a change like this to do it. Because I don’t regret stopping drinking that’s for sure.”
Pedersen also has a popular podcast where he talks to athletes about their challenges with mental health issues and alcoholism.