Patriots CB Lost a Friend to Fentanyl Overdose. Now, He's Trying to Spotlight the Crisis
Last Updated: Wednesday December 13, 2023
(USA TODAY) The bright yellow cleats New England Patriots cornerback Myles Bryant wears this weekend are sure to grab people’s attention.
So must the message behind them.
Bryant’s cleats spotlight this country’s fentanyl crisis, specifically the growing number of pills laced with the drug and the deaths occurring because of them. Deaths like that of Bryant’s childhood friend Charlie Ternan, who died in May 2020 after taking what turned out to be a counterfeit Percocet for pain that had lingered after back surgery.
“When you get people like Myles Bryant stepping up and saying, 'I’m OK talking about this heavy topic,’ it’s worth its weight in gold toward making it OK for kids to approach their parents and parents to talk to their kids,” Ed Ternan, Charlie’s father, told USA TODAY Sports.