Earl Campbell Weighs in on Opioid Use

SAN ANTONIO — With the death of music superstar Prince, the danger of prescription painkillers is in the spotlight — and now a Tyler icon is weighing in. Many don’t know that John Tyler Lions, Texas Longhorns, and Houston Oilers legend Earl Campbell struggled to overcome an opioid addiction. He told a fundraiser for San Antonio’s Rise Center, which helps addicts, that it was one of his five doctors who got his kids involved. Campbell said his son Tyler told him the children had checked out what he was doing — and that if he kept doing it, he’d “be dead like Michael Jackson.” Campbell says it’s too easy to get prescriptions for painkillers. He used to drive from Austin to Houston to get pain shots.