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Josh Sorenson

Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 2010

March 6, 2018

Fighting Battles Off The Field: Stanley Havili

Stanley Havili, a former NFL fullback for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Indianapolis

Colts, has been fighting more than just defensive lineman throughout his life. Stanley was born

in the western side of Salt Lake City, Utah, in the Rose park neighborhood to a family of ten.

Stanley was an active kid growing up and developed a love for football that transcended into his

high school years. Due to his father’s humble salary as bus driver for UTA, the odds of Stanley

being able to pursue his passion for playing football were slim. Despite this barrier, Stanley

found a way to accomplish his dream.

Stanley started his high school football career at East High School, but decided to transfer

to Cottonwood High School at the beginning of his junior year to give him a better opportunity at

competing at an elite level that college recruiters would notice. One of the coaches at

Cottonwood High School saw the potential that Stanley had to be a great football star as he drove

him the long distance from his home in Rose park to the high school every morning. The

generous sacrifice made by the coach prompted Stanley to value the opportunity to play for the

high school team. Havili exceeded expectations and produced 2,652 all-purpose yards and 32

touchdowns his senior year. Havilli gained attention by college recruiters and was ultimately

offered a scholarship to play for the University of Southern California in 2006. Due to a broken
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leg injury suffered in a game against Arizona early in the season, Stanley was granted a medical

redshirt that allowed him to officially start his rookie season in 2007. During the 2007 season,

Stanley accumulated 248 yards as a receiver averaging 7.3 yards per reception. He also

demonstrated his skills as an important part of USC’s running game averaging 6.4 yards per

game and accumulating 134 yards for the season. His importance and leadership to his team

grew until he was named co-captain by his teammates. After his senior year at USC, Stanley was

selected in the seventh round to the Philadelphia Eagles. Soon after he wed his high school

sweetheart who was an NBA cheerleader. Stanley’s life was just beginning and he was on top of

the world. He had little indication however that living this dream would introduce a new set of

challenges.

Stanley Havilli’s season as a fullback punished his body physically. Stanley said, “At the

end of the season, I could barely walk.” After many games of constantly throwing his body at the

defense, fighting for every yard, Stanley was struggling with handling the pain. He turned to the

painkillers prescribed to him by his team medical staff to numb the pain. The pain successfully

decreased but an even bigger problem had been created. The addictive effects of the painkillers

conditioned Stanley to feel like he needed the pills to play football. Like a true addiction, his

brain became rewired and numb to everything else.“I was hiding this from my wife and hiding

this from everyone around me” Stanley says. As he slipped further into his addiction, there came

a point where hiding the ugly truth was no longer possible. Stanley’s wife soon found out about

his addiction and couldn’t believe that the man she had married would do this to her. The bridge

of trust between them had been destroyed and she proposed that they get a divorce. Stanley’s

family was in jeopardy.

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He had tried many times before to get sober from his addiction but was unsuccessful. His

pending divorce, discouragement from unsuccessful sobriety attempts, a possible end to his

football career, and the numbing of addiction put Stanley in a dangerous state of mind. He

escalated to more extreme measures to deal with his problems. He thought, “maybe I should start

using more” and considered heroin. This slippery slope from pain pills to more destructive drugs

now left Stanley feeling hopeless and considering suicide as the answer to his pain. Stanley

Havili acted on his desire to end his life and took 180 pills in an attempt to overdose. Instead, he

woke up in a hospital bed being treated for the overwhelming amount of drugs in his body.

Realizing that he had been unsuccessful in taking his life, Stanley embraced his second

chance at breaking free from his addiction and to fight for everything he had lost as a result of

his addiction. The difference in his attitude rejuvenated Stanley’s drive to embark on his long of

recovery and gave him the courage to start the first step in the addiction recovery program;

accepting his inability to overcome his addiction by himself and finding hope and direction in a

power greater than himself. When Stanley found a group of recovering addicts that could offer

support, love, and accountability to a big tough football player like him, he was able to heal and

find get his life back. Hard work, perseverance, persistence, and a willingness to listen to

constructive criticism formulated Stanley’s football mentality and helped him in his fight to be

free from addiction.

Stanley and his wife were able to make amends, saving their marriage and their family.

Owing much of his success to those that supported and helped him through his recovery, Stanley

is doing all he can to provide hope for those struggling with prescription drug addiction. He is

making a difference by sharing his story publicly through his religion. In an inspiring video put
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out by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Stanley expresses, “With hope, anything

is possible.” Stanley also has provided financial assistance for those suffering from prescription

drug abuse. He owns houses that allow a place for addicts to reside while working on their

recovering journey. Stanley has raised awareness about prescription drug abuse and improper

ways of dealing with injuries within the National Football League. Stanley Havili, along many

others that suffer with addiction to prescription drugs, continue to fight against this epidemic.

Stanley has emerged from his addiction victorious, accompanied with a feeling more rewarding

than any touchdown could produce.