Patrick Peterson discloses that he’s diabetic

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At the Scouting Combine, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians told PFT Live that cornerback Patrick Peterson battled blood sugar issues during the 2014 season, and that Peterson had “borderline” diabetes.  Peterson has now said that his condition goes beyond any borderline.

I’d rather not go into deep detail about that,” Peterson initially told Kent Somers of azcentralsports.com.  “It was a situation that it occurred during the season.  The team docs found it and got it all under wraps.”

Peterson admitted that the situation affected him in 2014.

“No question it made a big difference and once they found out what the problem was, they put their hands around the throat, wrangled it and we moved forward from it,” Peterson said.

While the situation is under control, it’s not cured; “I am a diabetic,” Peterson said.

Peterson, one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, didn’t specify whether he suffers from Type I or Type II diabetes.  The diagnosis helps explain the decline in his play from last season, and we wish him the best as he prepares for 2015.

43 responses to “Patrick Peterson discloses that he’s diabetic

  1. UMMMM OK BETTER BE BETTER NEXT YEAR BECAUSE LAST YEAR YOU TALK ALL THAT SMACK AND GOT TORCH EVERY TIME

  2. Not that it truly matters, but if you’re curious, almost all people diagnosed that young are Type I. My hats off to the guys that can play through that sort of thing. Even that QB in Chicago

  3. Patrick once yourself & your doctors get your levels corrected & you will learn more on how to handle your body. You will still be a top 3 corner in the game.

  4. “The diagnosis helps explain the decline in his play from last season, and we wish him the best as he prepares for 2015.”

    Interesting how Patrick Peterson gets best wishes for his diabetes but Jay Cutler gets his usual hatred for his diabetes which he’s had for awhile.

  5. All the respect for a player playing with diabetes. Along with Jay Cutler who deserves praise instead of the usual mean spirited comments written about him.

  6. If he’s just now getting it’s, there’s a 90-95% chance it is Type 2. Best of luck and good health to him — he’s a good dude!

  7. I know diabetics of both types and it continually amazes me how quickly blood sugar concentrations change throughout the day. Untreated drops in blood sugar affects mood, energy and can cause death. It’s great that medicines and testing have advanced to the point that athletes like Patrick Peterson, Jay Cutler and others can play an incredibly strenuous game at a high level.

  8. It can happen to many, many athletes.

    They are under such a strict dietary schedule, but most are on high carb/cal diets. The risk runs in the amount of caloric intake an athlete literally has to endure to perform. If you would believe it, many of these athletes consume 7-10k calories a day. The life of an athlete is more than just collecting a paycheck, sometimes it’s easy to forget the risk and the work they put in on a daily basis.

  9. “The diagnosis helps explain the decline in his play from last season, and we wish him the best as he prepares for 2015.”

    Funny how Jay Cutler does not get that same kind of explanation and well wishes.

  10. Diabetes is not a disease but an ailment where there is no cure. Though meds and diet change PP will be fine. My guess is he is Type 1 and he has had it most if not all of his life

  11. How did his condition go so long without being discovered? He’s a veteran, high-level NFL player who is constantly being checked and tested by team trainers and doctors whose job is to keep players healthy.

  12. As a type 1 diabetic myself, I’d bet almost anything Peterson is also a type 1. Type 2’s traditionally are either obese or older. Type 1 results from bad luck. Type 2 typically results from an unhealthy lifestyle or old age. There is no cure for type 1. Diabetes is not necessarily a food related disease as someone said. Stop taking insulin and fast all day. You will still have blood sugar problems.

  13. philtration says:
    Apr 7, 2015 8:42 AM
    “The diagnosis helps explain the decline in his play from last season, and we wish him the best as he prepares for 2015.”

    Funny how Jay Cutler does not get that same kind of explanation and well wishes.
    ———-‘
    True. But playing NFL level corner back is much more physically taxing than QB. I don’t know too many corners with the body type of Tom Brady or Jameis Winston when they came out of college. To play corner your conditioning has to be top notch.

  14. pulpfriction01 says:
    Apr 7, 2015 1:39 AM

    Diabetes is a food related illness. Proper diet=diabetes under control or cured.

    Someone here didn’t attend Med school.

  15. He is absolutely Type 1 and not type 2, the same as Jay Cutler.

    You can be inflicted with T1 D at any age but often it is referred to as “juvenile diabetes” because it shows up frequently in childhood.

    It’s an autoimmune condition that can only be treated by insulin injections matched to your food intake and activity level. It is the “bad luck” kind, there is nothing you can do to avoid it.

    Type 1 Diabetes is not something that you could live with unnoticed. Prior to the discovery of insulin, or left untreated, it would kill you within months.

    Other NFL athletes such as DB Tony George and QB Wade Wilson, in addition to Jay Cutler have also played through it.

    Best of luck to Patrick. It’s a relentless condition that requires constant monitoring, injections and adjustments.

  16. pulpfriction01 says: Apr 7, 2015 1:39 AM

    Diabetes is a food related illness. Proper diet=diabetes under control or cured.

    ———————–

    If one is susceptible to type-I it cannot be prevented, only controlled. Fact. Your assessment applies to type-II.

  17. This could explain why he has drastically lost speed and quickness since his rookie year.

    The Cards now wish they had listened to their medical staff before they gave Peterson his HUGE contract.

    Other huge contracts the Cards have regretted include Levi Brown, Kevin Kolb, and Big Leon Davis contracts.

    The biggest non-big contract that the Cards regret never happenned was when Whisenhunt decided that Anquain Boldin was washed up and his skills were on the decline so he was clearly expendable which led to trading him to the Ravens where Boldin was crucial to their Super Bowl win.

  18. Type 1 Diabetes cannot be predicted by a medical evaluation. These is nothing Peterson or the Cards could have done to foresee this condition and write it in to the contract. It is no more predictable than cancer. It also comes on very quickly and between the initial affliction/start and full treatment you-know-you-got-it phase, the window is just a few weeks.

    I ‘m concerned that so many people are stating as fact incorrect explanations for both Type1 and Type2 diabetes. Both have a strong genetic component. For example, if you have a twin with T2, you are more likely to develop type 2 than you would be likely to develop T1 as a twin of someone with T1. T1 is completely unrelated to diet and exercise, it is an autoimmune condition created when your immune system wrongly targets and then attacks your insulin producing pancreas.

    Type 2 diabetes is linked to diet and exercise but is strongly genetic and often affects those who are in better shape and have better diets than the average person. Unfortunately, Type 2 is also a big part of our fat shaming culture which only adds to the difficulty of managing it.

    I am sorry to say that I am such an expert on this, as a scientist and with a T1 teenager and family member. Best of luck to those suffering from either version diabetes.

  19. This is probably genetic since to be an NFL cornerback you kind of have to be in tip top shape. Sucks for him but he’s been able to play with it all this time at the level he’s been playing at it shouldn’t affect his performance. I think Jay Cutler also has diabetes but he still sucks either way with or without diabetes because of his lack of caring about anything.

  20. sportnut92 says:
    Apr 7, 2015 8:26 AM
    It can happen to many, many athletes.

    They are under such a strict dietary schedule, but most are on high carb/cal diets. The risk runs in the amount of caloric intake an athlete literally has to endure to perform. If you would believe it, many of these athletes consume 7-10k calories a day. The life of an athlete is more than just collecting a paycheck, sometimes it’s easy to forget the risk and the work they put in on a daily basis.
    *********************************************************
    Close sportnut92 but the largest risk is in heredity. You can work out daily , watch and count calaries/carbs and then STILL end up getting it due to bad genes. Unfortunately, i have been there and done that. My father and younger brother both had it for about 20 years and i never tested positive as i worked out in the gym at a minimum of 5 days a week since playing college football. unfortunately, in the end, the dreaded “D-beast” smacked me upside my head and i’ve been monitoring my blood sugar ever since. I wish them well in their journey, great NFL career or not.

  21. Life is hard, but it’s hard for all of us. Suffering however is optional. Good on him for toughing it out. Hopefully he is able to overcome.

  22. I agree with dino2997.

    “Peterson, one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, didn’t specify whether he suffers from Type I or Type II diabetes. The diagnosis helps explain the decline in his play from last season, and we wish him the best as he prepares for 2015.”

    In a perfect world, one without judgement and hatred you would apply the same logic, courtesy and well wishes to Jay Cutler, a type 1 diabetic who has been eviscerated more than once on PFT, and who, by the way, does not talk about his illness and has never used it as an excuse for poor play. Diabetes 1 and 2 are diseases that can affect the entire endocrine system, messing with brain chemistry and creating cognitive and energy problems.

    If Peterson deserves “best wishes as he prepares for 2015” so should Cutler. Fair’s fair!

  23. Sounds like he’s a newly diagnosed type 1 who is in his “honeymoon” period. Diet and exercise can help manage type 1, but he’s going to become insulin dependent. It’s inevitable. It’s a shame he’s treating this like leprosy and seems to be ashamed. It’s not anybody’s fault. I’m hoping he comes to terms with it.

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