Warning: This article includes references to upsetting themes, including suicide.
Zac Easter was always the toughest tackler for his team, just like his NFL heroes.
He was the linebacker who used his head as a battering ram, dominating opponents and setting the aggressive tone in defence. To his mother, he was an “all-American kid”; a grade-A student at school, ‘solider of the year’ at his national guard volunteer group, and a huge sports fan.
American Football, along with farming and hunting, was an important part of the Easter family identity, a passion passed down through the generations who’d made their part of rural Iowa – Indianola – home many years ago.
Zac started playing from the age of eight, but the game he loved would seriously damage his health, and ultimately lead to his death.
The symptoms first showed at age 11, when he began experiencing headaches and a sensitivity to light. …