Tim Shaw and ALS

 As a lifelong Tennessee Titans fan, Tim Shaw was one of the first people I thought of when I realized that we had a Neuro Note over Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). My interest in hearing about his story comes from having seen his condition progress as he cheers on his team from the sidelines. I was unaware of his diagnosis or who he was until he came out one game to be honored as the 12th Titan. Since then, I have noticed him at games still going to support his team. What I have noticed is the decline of his condition from being able to walk on the field to needing a wheelchair for assistance. What I was unable to see from just watching him is the purpose and drive that he possesses. This, I learned more about along with his story from his TED Talk "From Strength to Significance."

Tim Shaw starts his talk by sharing his condition in Fall 2012. At this point, he states that he was living the dream; he was an NFL linebacker for the Titans and had money, power, and influence. Up until that point, his only goal had been how strong could he be. He shares that coming out of college, he was 6' 2" and 237 pounds. Then, out of no where, he started to lose his strength. In the off-season of 2013, he said that his body would not do what it had always done and what he wanted it to do. Something interesting that he mentions was that it was not noticeable to everyone, but it was to him. In a preseason game that year, he ended up getting pulled from the game, and his performance got so bad that he was released from the team. Six months later, he was diagnosed with ALS, just about a month after his 30th birthday. At this point in his talk, he does not actually say the letters "A-L-S." Instead, he says that he, "...won't say them here today because just like the NFL, these three letters don't define who I am." To me, this sounds like a very OT thing to say because he chooses to focus on who he is and what he can do. He goes on to talk about how he progressed through the stages of grief as well as how the condition progressed to affect his body. Initially, the shock wore off into denial. He thought that he was too strong for this. He decided that he should travel, he played golf, and he went on mission trips. Then, his hands started to drop things, and he started having falls. He sometimes wound up in the hospital for these falls to get stitches or to attend to a broken bone. With time, walking, talking, moving, eating, and breathing got harder for him. He eventual moved into anger and sadness and thought, "Why me?" Then, he grew to accept his condition by having hope for the future and what was coming while understanding his condition. He realized that he now had a platform bigger than the NFL and could either give into the disease or declare that the disease is not about him and make a difference. Shaw says that he sees adversity as an opportunity. This led him to write a book, speak to local and national government, and even speak to the Yankees and Titans players. He closes by encouraging people not to view strength by the external things because true strength comes from the heart and mind.

From watching this TED Talk, I gained a better perspective of someone who is living with ALS. Not only did Tim Shaw share how his disease progressed physically, he shared how his mindset changed with it. It was also interesting for me to notice how his speech was affected. There were certain times that it was harder to understand what was being said because of how ALS also affects the muscles of the face. In the news stories I had watched initially, he has a slight slur, but in the TED Talk, which took place later, his speech was harder to understand. I think this talk also re-emphasized that this disease does not affect a person cognitively. While it was evident that, physically, Tim Shaw has experienced decline in muscle strength, he was still very clear in presenting ideas and events and even managed to add some elements of humor into his talk.

Elman, J. (2021, March 6). Former Tennessee Titans linebacker Tim Shaw hasn’t let ALS slow down his pursuit of happiness. Sportscasting. https://www.sportscasting.com/former-tennessee-titans-linebacker-tim-shaw-hasnt-let-als-slow-pursuit-happiness/

Shaw, T. (2018, March). From strength to significance [Video]. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_shaw_from_strength_to_significance/up-next