SAN DIEGO -- Some people love to play football, but Jane Brinkman needs to play it.
“I don't know any other way to say it other than it kind of save my life again,” Brinkman said. “It brought me back to life.”
The 40-year-old plays for the San Diego Sting, a two year old women’s football team based in Carlsbad.
A former college basketball and volleyball player at the University of Colorado, Brinkman joined the Sting after what she calls some very dark days of drug abuse.
“It got to the point where I had on a tank top and a pair of basketball shorts and flip flops and a needle in my foot,” Brinkman said. “I was sitting underneath an I-17 bridge in Glendale (Ariz) going, ‘It's over. I'm done. I don't want to be here anymore.’”
Brinkman said she was addicted to heroin and an alcoholic, likely she says, due to the physical and sexual abuse she suffered as a child while growing up in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
“I was suicidal at that point,” Brinkman said.
Then a man she calls "Terry" found her under that bridge.
“He pulled me out of a place where I didn't think I would be able to get out of,” Brinkman said, fighting back tears.
Brinkman said she always saw herself as an athlete, playing basketball from the time she was able to dribble and even playing high school football. She said this opportunity with the Sting came at the right at time as she was looking for something to give her motivation to fight on.
Now 11 years sober, Brinkman works for the Rancho L'Abre Recovery Center in Hillcrest as a clinical assistant, helping recovering addicts overcome what she calls "the disease."
“It takes one human being to believe in another human being to make the difference,” Brinkman said.
As if recovering from addiction wasn't enough, in 2008 doctors told Brinkman she had stage-four breast cancer. Once again, she escaped death.
“It's a miracle I'm alive after cancer to self-inflicted abuse, to my childhood abuse, to being homeless," she said.
Brinkman joined the Sting in February just before the season began, and early on she would go to practice after chemotherapy sessions.
“She's definitely an inspiration on and off the field,” said teammate Christine Wright. “She's an amazing person and an amazing athlete, so I think I can speak for the whole team when I say we are blessed to have her.”
Brinkman serves as the Sting's inspirational leader, and one of its best players. She’s played tight end, offensive guard and tackle, wide receiver, outside linebacker and defensive line.
“She pushes everybody to be better," said defensive coordinator Calvin McClain. “Even during our sprints and everyone's tired, she's going 100 percent so you have to respond. You can't slack if she's going 100 percent.”
At this point, Brinkman knows of no other way, because she appreciates her second and even third chances.
“For whatever reason, I got picked to stick around for a while,” Brinkman said. “And I'm grateful.”
The Sting plays its next game Saturday, June 4 at Carlsbad High School.
