The sight of ice bucket challenges has become common across NFL training camps, but in Tennessee, it had a little more meaning Wednesday.
Former Titans linebacker Tim Shaw was there for it, a day after announcing he had been diagnosed with ALS in April.
“I would never say I am not afraid of anything,’' Shaw said, via Jim Wyatt of the Tennesseean. “If you look at what ALS has done to people, that is a scary process. So I am not scared to die, but the process is a little daunting.”
The 30-year-old Shaw was visibly emotional while describing the process, as he said he could tell he was losing athletic ability and his muscles were twitching long before the diagnosis, which he called: “the hardest thing I’ve ever had to hear.”
“Every thought runs through your mind, but as a man you have a choice,” Shaw said. “What are you going to do? Are you going to stand up and fight for your life? Or are you going to accept what someone else tells you is reality and just fade away? As staggering as that news was and as shocking as it was to hear and to say, I made that choice to stand up and live life to the fullest like I believe I always have.”
Along with former Saints safety Steve Gleason, that’s the kind of face ALS needs, to inspire others to fight one of the most despicable diseases known to man.