Josh Brent is going through an unbearable time in his life, albeit because of his own actions. Brent regardless of prison time or if he plays another NFL down, will have to live with the fact he killed his best friend in a wreck.
Drew Pearson is a former Dallas Cowboy great who played wide receiver for the organization from 1973 to 1983. Pearson is actually one person who can understand what Brent is going through, having been behind the wheel of a 1984 car wreck that killed his younger brother Carey.
Pearson spoke with USA Today recently, and as he explained it, understands and knows the pain Josh Brent feels and is going through right now.
“I’m going through a stretch,” he said softly, “of being depressed.”
“As soon as I heard about the accident, it hit me. Bam!” he said. “Now it’s bringing everything that I’ve been through to the front of my mind.”
Pearson was referring to the early morning car wreck in March 1984 that ended his career and his brother’s life when He hit a parked tractor-trailer on I-635.
“I was stunned,” recalled Pearson, who suffered a hole in his liver in the crash that made it too risky for him to play football. “It was, ‘Why did that happen? How could this happen? I play for the Dallas Cowboys This can’t be happening. Why?'”
Unlike Brent who was drunk and blood-alcohol level was more than 2 times the legal limit, Pearson was not accused of drunk driving, even though he admitted to having a few beers the night before.
Pearson says the situations are similar, and would like to talk to Brent if he can.
“I wouldn’t try to tell him how to deal with it but what to expect,” Pearson said. “Like the guilt. It will be there for the rest of his life, and it will be deep-seated. And the depression can be so overwhelming.”