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There's always a story Beyond the Score.

When you're doing something for so long and it's all of a sudden gone, your whole lifestyle changes.

From the time he was a littl guy, I think he was a pleaser.

You know, he wanted to make you happy and wanted to make you smile.

He was a really good person.

I feel like we were totally caught off guard.

And I guess if this would help somebody, you know, I'd want parents to know.

What's up beautiful people.

Welcome to Beyond the Score.

I'm your host, Al Martin.

James Moore dominated on the football fiel at Lansing Sexton High School.

He was so good that colleges near and far were clamorin to nab his talent collegiately.

After a recruiting visit from then Michigan State assistant coach the great Nick Saban, he decided to stay home and play for the Spartans.

It was there where he helped secure a Rose Bowl championshi for Michigan State back in 1988.

Everything was lining u for him to make it to the NFL, so it seemed.

But sometimes life throws a curve ball instead of a touchdown.

After those NFL dreams didn't pan out, James faced a new kind of opponent.

It challenged him mentally and emotionally, forcing him to either fight or go down a path that so many athletes unfortunatel take once dreams become altered.

Moore's story is on that reminds us that sometimes the biggest victories happen off the field.

I just want you to say the first thing that comes to mind as I go through these words.

Football.

Love it.

Addiction.

Terrible.

Mental health.

Serious life.

A rollercoaster.

Four words.

Four responses.

Endless thoughts that fir through the brain of James Moore in milliseconds.

He's a man that has live quite the life, and a peek into his story makes him relatable to anyone who knows what it's like to pick yourself up off the mat when things get real.

James is from the west side of Lansing.

He never met his biological father.

His mother, Linda, would meet Cleveland Moore, who would adopt hi along with his other brothers.

Took in three of us.

Adopted us, gave us his name.

Then my uncle passed away and took in two more.

Tony and Daryl, and then had Cleveland Jr and Chris.

So seven total.

Seven boys total.

I couldn't ask for a better childhood.

That childhood saw James develo his natural talent as an athlete while attending Lansing Sexton High School, he became a standout in track and field and of course, football, where he rushed for almost 200 yards and was highly recruited.

The Lansing Sexton Hall of Famer decided to stay home, playing for the late George Perles at Michigan State University.

James would lace up the cleats for the Spartans in 29 games from '85 to '89 running the ball for 200 yards and three touchdowns.

The athletic feat that he's most proud o is playing in the '88 Rose Bowl.

The Spartans beating USC i the 74th edition of the coveted bowl game.

Man, it was a dream come true.

A lifetime achievement, you know, make it to the Rose Bowl.

The last time they did it was the year I was born back in '66.

It was an amazing atmosphere.

Is there a play that stands out in that game for you?

Yeah.

I mean, I had the best average on the team.

You left it out there?

Yeah, I had.

It is true.

Hey, what was that?

Average.

Average nine yards per carry.

Because you got to get a handle high right up the middle.

James, a full back on that team is best known for clearing the way for college football Hall of Fame running back Lorenzo White, who ran for over 100 yards in that rose Bowl dub.

At MSU, James did the dirty work blocking defenders while Lorenzo ra through openings that culminated in him becoming Michigan State's all time leading rusher almost 4900 yards on the ground.

He holds nearly every rushing record in program history.

Is there any part of you that is kind of like that should have been me.

You know, you're always going to have some of that.

But at the time I was playing so it really didn't affect me, you know, saying I wa on the field and then he wasn't.

James was injure during the '88 regular season.

By the time he recovered, Coach Perles limited his minutes playin in only six games that season.

After deciding to forg his final year of eligibility, there was little to no interest from NFL teams.

The shift to a life without sports brought about unforeseen emotional torment.

When you're doing something for so long and it's all of a sudden gone, your whole lifestyle changes and you're smoking, smoking weed, smoking crack, trying to suppress, get rid of the pain, you know.

At the time I thought it was good feeling, but it's just like it takes you up where you like.

Wow.

And then you come down even lower.

Every time.

James became what he calls a functioning addict.

Maintaining a job as a security officer around the greater Lansing area, he was a regular drug abuser.

Then an awakening.

I was in Grand Rapids.

I think my daughter was like 11.

It's a Saturday.

She's on the bench sleeping.

So I go pick up some rocks and I'm sitting in the car.

My heart's already racing.

And then the police pull up behind me.

I'm looking in this rearview mirror.

They about to turn they lights on and I got in my hand already.

For some reason, they just take off.

Just take off.

And I'm like, they out.

I'm out.

That next morning when I woke up.

Wow.

I mean, it was like God was just flashing.

I mean, my daughter, my job, working the school district.

James Moore headline.

And I haven't touched it since Quit Cold Turkey.

That was June of '99.

Clean ever since he went on to become a father of five, four boys, one girl.

But what happens when you are faced with the challenge of watching one of your children go down a dark path?

Alonzo Gomez did just that.

Arrested in 2016 for armed robbery and home invasion.

Alonzo and another young man confronted a civilian in a parking lot.

We parked the car, got a gun and ra up and forced him in the house, not knowing his girlfriend or whoever was upstairs.

Must have heard us come i and already called the police.

So we're coming out the house instantly hear "freeze".

And I dropped to the floor and seeing my life flashed in front of me.

Wake up call.

End up doing seven years.

What role did your dad play during?

Oh, he played a major role.

Talk to him every other week.

Faithfully for seven years straight.

He kept.

Kept me focused and just.

Just a positive energy.

You know what I'm saying?

Cause you're not getting no positive energy in there.

One bad choice could have cost him his life, Could have cost him like he had red dots on him.

And then the choice you make don't just affect you.

From my daughter to my dad, to my mom, to my sisters, it affected everybody in a totally different ways.

All negative too.

After Alonzo's release, James has helped him find a steady job in the Lansing area.

As for James, he's now the founder of Swap, or Speaking With A Purpose.

It's a philanthropic campaign in which he shares his story of perseverance and allows others to share theirs.

It's about swapping the negative for the positive.

And in spreading this word, he's found himself impacting lives in unexpected ways.

Good morning.

This morning, I seen an article that was written about you.

I don't think you'll remember me, bu I was one of the troubled kids that attended Valley Wood Middle School when you were working there.

I did get my act together.

I went off to the Army, served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now I'm home.

I have a wife and five kids.

To this day, I tell my kids and friends about you.

That's what it's about right there.

What goes through your min when you when you get a message like that?

I did my job because I would always tell them, I don't care if you remember it now or next week or next year, if you remember it five years down the road.

I did my job and that's testimony.

One note James says that S.W.A.P.

is his true God given purpose and that football doesn't compare to the feeling that he gets after speaking t people about the game of life.

Brady Hessbrook's life is one that reminds us how fragile life truly is.

He's a young man whose name lit up the football field at Ithaca High School on Friday nights as a star quarterback, taking his talent to Wayne State University, ready to make his mark on the college gridiron.

But Brady faced a private struggle, one that ultimately led him to make a tragic decision.

His parents, Terry and Kristy Hessbrook, are now left grappling with a nightmare that no parent should ever have to face.

Afterwards, I sit down wit Terry Hessbrook and James Moore for a larger conversation.

It's hard because people say, How are you?

Or how really are you?

You know, and it's like, I think now we are the ones that hide it.

Like we're really not okay.

How do you measure the impact of a life... though short... which leaves an indelible mark on everyone it touched.

For those that knew him, Brady Hessbrook' light is what made him special.

That light always shining bright wheneve he had a football in his hands.

How did he fall in love with football?

Since he was a little tyke he had an old pair of shoulder pads and he had put that out and put a jersey on.

He'd go outside and he would toss the ball to himself and tackle himsel and throw himself on the ground and get up and celebrate And how do you tackle yourself?

I'm not sure how he did it, but I wish we had video of it, too, because there wa the most comical thing to watch.

And, you know, he really enjoyed it.

He learned at a very young age.

And of course, you know, was always around, film was always on.

And so he's a coach's kid.

Terry Hessbrook, Brady's father, is the former coach of the Ithaca High School football team.

During his 17 season run, he coached the Yellowjackets to five state championships, including seven championship appearances in eight seasons.

Through it all his son Brady was right there, starting off as a ball boy for the team, eventually playing for his dad as Ithaca's starting quarterback where he would become All-State and an Associated Press player of the Year.

Brady would commit to play collegiately at Wayne State University.

It was there where things would take a turn.

Were there any red flags?

Looking back, there were things that we missed.

I thought a messy closet, messy room was a normal teenage thing, but this was actually a sign that we were blind to.

He gave up some of the things that he loved to do.

We have a little fishing boat that we had purchased along the side of the road, and we fished a lot.

And I don't remember that that summer before he went back t to Wayne State as a sophomore.

I don't think we wer I don't think we went one time.

Brady battled back from a torn ACL during his sophomore year at Ithaca and hurt his shoulder the next season.

After redshirting his freshman year at Wayne State.

That same shoulder led hi to sit out his sophomore year.

Football was escaping Brady.

He had always, I think, identified as and everybody identified hi as whether it's right or wrong as he was Brad Hessbrook, the football player.

And he was no longer it didn't have football in his life anymore.

He began questioning his place on the team.

I remember telling Brady, I said, I think you're makin a big mistake, You know, about not being a part of football.

Go back and you know, and stay on scholarship and and film or do whatever until you get healthy.

You know, they'll they'll help you, you know, with with therapy and stuff for your shoulder and the treatment that you need.

And.

And he was adamant.

He's like, no, I want I want to be done right now.

I'm not healthy and I want to get healthy.

And he was adamant about that.

After spending th holiday season with his family, Brady was back on campus at Wayne State, taking classes and rehabbing his shoulder.

But on this Friday, Brady made the two hour drive from campus back to his parents house in Ithaca.

A bit unexpected, but maybe just homesick.

His mother, Kristy, saw Brady's car and called Terry.

She said Hey, Brady's car's in the garage and he didn't have a garage door opener.

So I thought that was unusual.

But I was like, Great.

He come home to surprise us and you call me back 2 minutes later and she said, You need to go home.

I was surprised to see his car in the garage, but I ran in the house and I was like, calling him.

And I ran downstairs because I thought maybe he was taking a nap.

The bathroom door was locked.

He busted it down immediately and we found him.

After that, it was a blur.

But it was the worst day of our lives.

I don't think.

I don't think we'll ever, ever be the same.

Obviously, we'll never be the same.

But I mean, my heart will be broken.

I don't think my heart will ever be whole again.

I just pray that sometime we see him again.

Brady Hessbrook was just 20 years old.

The day before Brady' death, Wayne State hired Tyrone Wheatley as the new football coach for the Warriors.

On the day of the funeral he loaded members of the Wayne State football team on a bus for the homegoing service, a total surprise for Kristy and Terry.

They had the team walk right in between the casket and Kristy and I, and, you know, they hugged us and shook our hands.

And almost everybody said something positive about our son.

But two players individually, I remember, stopped and they said, you know, they hugged us and they said we wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for your son.

Brady.

They were going through some very difficult times as freshmen and and Brad helped them through those times.

There are going to be parents who watch this.

Maybe they have a son o a daughter who are going through mental health challenges, maybe some who are going through the nightmar that you all are still living.

What do you want to say to those parents?

I don't want there to be shame attached to this.

It's like a disease of your brain.

And, you know, if we see somebody that needs help or treatment for a broken le or cancer, we don't judge them.

We want them to get help and we help them.

And I don't know that we're there yet with mental health.

I think that I think the stigma that's attached to it is is maybe what kept our son from coming forward.

You know, the shame and embarrassment, the stigma that's attached to poor mental health.

Kristy and Terr turned their grief into action.

They established the B# Foundation named after Brady's jersey number to bring mental health awareness and suicide prevention to the forefront.

The B#4 Foundation strives to prevent other families from feeling the same pain.

Terry has become the main spokesman for the foundation and remembers how nervou he was the first time he spoke about Brady's story in front of a large crowd.

The head football coach at Alma College extended the invite.

When he asked me, I was real tentative because I don't want 1.

I don't know if I'll make it through the presentation without breaking down, 2. do they really want to hear, you know, Brady's stor and you start questioning stuff?

Well, I went there's 187 footbal and I'm going to guess when I finished, 50 of them came down and gave me a hug.

You know, these are grown men.

And four of those people whispered in my ear and they said, Coach, I need help.

I need help right now.

I drove home that day.

I was like, you know, I talked to Brady little bit, like maybe they do.

You know, we need to do this, you know?

I mean, and that's when I firs realized that, that it's a lot bigger problem than than we knew.

And the B#4 foundation merch has become a rallying cry for so many.

You know hey, I'm wearing the B#4 at the Super Bowl, you know or I'm wearing the B#4 in Alaska, you know or I'm wearing the B#4 and I'm in the Dominican Republic.

Al I can't tell you not to just ramble, but the number of professional people that I work with across the state of Michigan that suffer from anxiety, depression and poor mental health.

So how do you measure the impact of a life like that of Brady's?

Perhaps you do that by looking at the strength he inspires in others to keep going.

Terry Hessbrook and James Moore now join me on the Beyond the Score set.

Terry James thank you so much for your time.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

And thank you for sharing your stories.

I want to start here, Terry.

What role does the culture of football and sports in general play in exacerbating mental health issues?

I can speak from th from the football perspective.

You know, I think a lot of times we're guilty as football coaches, you know, trying to get our kids to be tough and be warriors and be you know, rub some dirt on it, you know, and get back in there type attitude and culture.

And I think sometimes maybe that leads to kids doing things maybe they shouldn't do.

What's your take on that?

I agree because when we were brought up in our era that's what it was a suck it up.

Get back in there.

Let's go.

You're alright.

You're okay.

Right?

And nowadays, we really have to stop and think about it and look at what's going on in front of us with our kids.

Both of your experience when it comes to mental health, how have those experience changed the way you view life?

Start with you, James.

Well, it has really broadened my perspective of life.

Okay.

I don't look at it in a bubble no more.

I look at it as life.

You have one life to live, enjoy life.

And in that process we want to impact people's lives by sharing our stories.

Okay.

To make a difference so they don't have some of the struggles that we've had or go through some of the struggles that we have, like we do with our kids.

And I think that we share our story.

You know, our son Brady story in hopes that we can possibl get through to someone out there that needs to hear his message in hopes that that another family doesn't have to endure the the hell that our family and our community and school are going through with this, you know, terrible decision that our son Brady made.

And we don't kno who needs to hear the message.

You know, I've spoken to over 10,000 students in the last 14 months and we don't know who in that crowd needs to hear that message.

You both are now public speakers.

I'm wondering what message do you guys really want to hammer hom every time you do grab that mic and speak to young young men and women out there?

James.

My my end goal.

Impact people's lives to make a difference.

To let people know it's okay.

It's okay.

We're all struggling.

Everybody is going through something.

Everybody.

I think the big thing that when we speak to kids is, you know, we want to we want to get that message across about, you know, about speaking up and about it's okay to talk about mental health.

You break your arm, you brea your leg, You you go get a cast.

All right.

But suddenly, if you hav something, maybe it's not right.

Maybe you're not feeling right or think in the right way.

You know, all of a sudden there's a stigma attached that and we don't tell anybody because we're afraid of what people are going to think.

And I think we got to get past that.

Do you think schools and institutions are are doing a better job at addressing this issue nationwide?

I think if I may, James, I think I think you see a lot more of it on TV.

You watch the NCA basketball tournament last year.

You watch you watch any college, you know, I know that Wayne State University has hired somebod that's on campus for athletes, you know, to talk with those kids.

And I believe that Northern Michigan has done as well.

And I know that lots of other schools are doing that now at the Division one level and making it a priority, these kids mental health and making it a priority.

It's in the forefront right now.

Yes, it is in the forefront.

And we've got to capitalize an we've got to capitalize on that so that we can impact kids lives and make a difference.

Any message to the silent sufferers?

You're not alone.

Speak up.

And before.

Before you make that decision to to change the path of your life, speak up and talk to somebody first.

It's not just going to impact them, right?

Okay.

It's going to impact a community.

A community.

Their loved ones.

Say something.

Reach for help.

Ask for help.

There's nothing wrong with asking for help.

I thank you both for again being so candid and sharing your stories.

And I know there's somebody out there watching and this has certainly helped.

Terry, James, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You know, something that I didn't know is that Terry and Jame actually played youth football with one another.

Prior to that sit down they hadn't seen each other since then.

While walking off set, they were so impacted by each other's story that they now have plans on teaming up and speaking side by side at an upcoming event.

I'm Al Martin.

And on behalf of our amazing team, here at WKAR, thanks for joining us.

And be easy, people.

Beyon the Score is supported in part by Capital Insurance Services, offering comprehensive, personal and commercial insurance, including medical professional liability to Lansing and throughout Michigan since 1980.

More resources and information about offerings at capital insurance dot com.