The Fight to Get Off the Canvas and Stay Sober – Gerry C.

We're now going to head back to New Jersey and catch up with a guy named Jerry Cooney, a marvelous fighter. He was at the top of his game, and at the same time, he was fighting alcoholism. In his career, he had 28 wins and 3 losses. He had a great knockout punch, but in the end, it was alcohol that knocked out Jerry Cooney. It brought him to his knees, but he found recovery. He got off the canvas and is now in long-term recovery. Jerry Coony joins us from his home in New Jersey. tonight we take recovery coast to coast back to new jersey and we catch up with a guy who was uh one of the great heavyweight fighters of all time he was at the top of his game and at the same time he Was fighting alcoholism in his career he was 28 wins and three losses he had a great knockout punch but in the end it was alcohol that knocked out jerry cooney brought him to his knees but he found recovery he got off off the canvas and is now in long-term recovery. Jerry Cooney joins us from his home in New Jersey. Welcome to the program, Jerry. How are you? Hey, you know what? It's great to be on. It's good to be alive and living well and being grateful every day. Jerry, let's go back to the beginning for you growing up as a child. When did the drinking start and when did it get out of control? Well, you Know, it's funny, but I grew up in an alcoholic family. My father was an alcoholic. My mother didn't drink. And I swore I was never going to be like him. And unfortunately, you know, dysfunction breeds dysfunction. And at the early age of, you Know, 13 years old, I picked up Boone's Farm apple wine and I liked what it did to me for the 15 to 20 minutes. I felt like that big hole that was in my chest went away. And I felt funny, attractive and, you Know, I fit in, you Know what I mean? And for the next, you Know, 15 or 17 years, I drank Of that. It worked for you for a while. It was your friend. Well, it sure did. I mean, it was my friend all the way up to the end until it really stopped working for me. What happened at the end and where were you career-wise when you hit your bottom? Well, you know, it's really funny, but in 1981, I fought a guy by the name of Kenny Norton in Madison Square Garden and I knocked him out in 54 seconds in the first round and that night was the first time I thought I had arrived and I felt like I deserved it. And whether it was that or the pressure started to get big and I started to find myself drinking more. And then from that night, May 11th, I don't fight for the heavyweight championship until June 11th 1982 so it was like a 13 month layoff and you know anybody you talk to if you're in the national league pitcher and you don't pitch for 13 months and they put you in the third game of the world series you're not going to be that sharp. But at the time those were the cards that were dealt to me and I made the best of them but the problem was I waited so long in between fights, and everybody wanted me to win that fight, or most everybody. And, you know, I drifted away. And how many days can you say, you Know, I've got to get up and run tomorrow morning? So you stay up and you don't get up to run the next morning. And little did I know, that's the end of my career at the Norton fight because I went on a run for the next couple of years that, you KNOW, I regret. Going back to the bottom, how did you wind up getting into recovery? Did you go to treatment? Well, you know, I had some family members I helped out get into recovery. And, you Know, I didn't think I had a problem and, You know, how that goes. Sure. And one day I had this beautiful home out in the Hamptons and I woke up one day at 11 o'clock in the morning and I thought to myself, Wow, what happened? What happened to me? That was 1987, you Now, June, July, August. And I got scared a little bit. I said, you know, I'm going to quit. I quit this year. You know, I'm gonna give this up and get my life back on track. The next morning I woke up the same way. And for the first time in my life I really got scared. You know and I kind of reached out and cried out to God and said, God, you gotta help me here. But it wasn't one of those foxhole get me out of this one, God, this is the real deal, you know. And I turned on the television and there was a program on that week was Alcohol Awareness Week and there's a place It's the Seafield Center, which is out in West Hampton Beach. A good friend of mine today, George Benedict, and I heard him talking about alcohol addiction. I remembered the number, 288-1122. I called it. I met with them, and they told me I could have a problem. I don't have to stay in a rehab to go to meetings outside. If I can't make it, I can always come back. So I went to two or three meetings a day for three or four months. And then I remember this girl telling me, you better be careful when you get four or five months, you're going to think you're all better. And I thought, not me. In five months I met this girl, started going late, leaving early, and went back out and drank again for two months of the worst drinking I had ever done. and ran into a guy who had three years sober who I used to hang around with. Told me I didn't have to drink anymore. That was April 1988. And you found your way back into the rooms? Found my way back in the rooms and worked the program, worked the steps, asked for help, reached out my hand and life has changed quite a bit since then. What is recovery like for you today, Jerry? Well, you know, I think a program is a service for me. I mean, I need to go to meetings. I need help others. Part of the problem I had as a fighter, I didn't realize I was so sick and I made a lot of mistakes and a lot people were rooting for me that night but little did they know I was out drinking and not taking care of myself and so kind of in a way for me I kind of make amends by helping other people. So I probably do 40 or 50 charities every year and help the less fortunate. And I live life large. I have a great family, never seen me drinking, great wife, and I'm busy as I want to be, play a lot of golf, and that's pretty much what my life consists of. Jerry, in terms of giving back to the community, you started an organization called FIST, Fighters Initiative for Support and Training. Tell us a little bit about that. Well, that's a great organization. What we do is we help fighters and their families turn the page. Much like alcohol and drug addiction, we all get knocked down, right? We have to get up, dust off our pants, and turn the pages. And basically I got all this from Alcoholics Anonymous and staying sober and one day at a time and helping the guy get to the next place is going to help him feel safe and to move on with his family and to have a good life like we all deserve. And this is for people who are in the fight game? Fighters and their families, yeah. Oh, that's great. That's great! What about family relationships now for you and perhaps some of the friends that you drank with? What do they see when they look at Jerry Cooney today? Well, you know, I don't live out there that much anymore. I made a lot of amends, and I still contact people from my past. We have a nice time one way together. And, you know, I'm just a different person. You know, this great wife, and I think about her and my two young kids, and she's selfless around them. Now for me as an alcoholic, I don't know what self, I know what selfish is. Yeah. And so I'm learning. It's a It's a work in progress all the time, trying to change. And that's my, you know, being closer to my higher power, asking forgiveness and to change and to help. What is your message out there for especially young people who are maybe just experimenting? Maybe they're on the path to addiction. What do you say to them? Well, you Know, if you are missing work, if You're missing school, you Now, try the rooms for 90 days. Go into the room. See if You can put it down for 90 Days. If you can, then it's great. Maybe you have to go out and practice and see if maybe you think you're okay. But if you're having trouble, come in the rooms. Turn your life around and find a purpose in your life and what you really want to do with your life instead of existing and waiting and putting things off. I mean, that was my thing. I put off and I'll do it tomorrow, do it tonight. You know the old story. Next year we didn't do anything. You are a fighter and certainly recovery is a fight. You bet it's a fight, and it's a great fight when we come in the rooms and work out through the steps the problems of our past and to turn the page and to get on and to live a productive, happy, healthy life. Jerry Cooney joining us tonight on Recovery Coast to Coast, one of the all-time great heavyweight boxers. Jerry, I wish you continued success one day at a time. You're a man.