Off Center: A Memoir of Addiction, Recovery, and Redemption in Professional Football

Randy Grimes quickly learned one important truth as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' top draft pick: play through pain, or get cut.

This is just part of being a pro athlete, he told himself.

Growing up in Tyler, Texas, Grimes's life was very much on center. A childhood spent in church on Sundays and on the gridiron all week turned into a football scholarship to Baylor, marriage to his college sweetheart, and a coveted NFL roster spot.

When the Bucs' starting center began piling up brutal hits, he ...