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Giants' Olivea kicks addiction and starts over
BY TOM ROCK | tom.rock@newsday.com
July 29, 2008

ALBANY - Shane Olivea has been in this position before, stuck on the third string. The last time it happened was in 2004, when he was a rookie with the Chargers. He didn't like it. In fact, shortly after training camp started that year, Olivea called his agent to say he was unhappy being the depth on the depth chart, that he'd always been a starter, and that he didn't want to waste his time or effort in such ditches.

"You need to get me out of here" was how Olivea put it, according to his agent, Ken Zuckerman.

But Zuckerman talked him down and Olivea remained with the Chargers. Then injuries started to pile up in camp, and by the time the season started, Olivea was the starter at right tackle.

The lesson learned: Just because things look one way in the NFL doesn't mean that's how they will turn out.

Olivea is still learning. Signed by the Giants last week after four years with the Chargers, Olivea - who won Newsday's Martone Award as Nassau's top lineman while at Lawrence in 1999 after moving from Long Beach the summer before his senior year - knows that even though he's taking third-string reps and grappling with rookies who would have had trouble making his teams at Ohio State, things can turn around. Quickly.

Giants' Olivea kicks addiction and starts over -- Newsday.com

Olivea getting second chance
By Kevin Acee
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 29, 2008

News yesterday from New York that offensive lineman Shane Olivea admitted to an addiction to painkillers while with the Chargers last season was met in San Diego with something less than admiration and sympathy.

While Olivea is expressing gratitude for a ?second chance? with the New York Giants, the prevailing feeling at Chargers Park is that those inside the organization tried to help Olivea numerous times and that he let down the team, as well as himself.

?Good for him,? guard Mike Goff, who played next to Olivea for 3? seasons, said without much emotion. ?Hopefully, he can get his life back in order. Hopefully, you learn from your mistakes.?

Said center Nick Hardwick, who, like Olivea, was drafted in 2004 and became an immediate starter: ?I hope he makes the most of it.?

Olivea was released by the Chargers in February, following a season in which he lost his starting job in the season's 10th game. It was a quick fall for a player the Chargers signed to a six-year extension in the summer of 2006 and paid $9.5 million over those first two years.

Olivea, who failed his first drug test before last season, checked himself into the Betty Ford Center in late April and was there when the NFL notified him of another mandatory drug test. His not responding to that test counted as a failed test, and he was suspended in June.

That suspension was overturned this month, because he had admitted himself into treatment and did not receive the notice. Olivea signed with the Giants after the suspension was reversed. He is working with the third-team line in New York.

?It's a second chance in my life and football, and I'm just happy to have that opportunity,? Olivea told the media at Giants training camp yesterday. ?A lot of guys aren't given that opportunity, so I feel very blessed and very fortunate to have that opportunity.

?I feel awesome. You know, sometimes you have to get knocked down to get back up and that was definitely the case with me. Like I said, I'm just very fortunate to be here living and breathing and able to put on a uniform again. Whatever happens, happens down the road, but the only thing I can control is today.?

SignOnSanDiego.com > San Diego Chargers -- Olivea getting second chance

Olivea's pain from pills
Lineman gets second chance after overcoming addiction

By PETE IORIZZO, Staff writer
First published: Tuesday, July 29, 2008

ALBANY -- For Shane Olivea, this was rock bottom: He walked into his San Diego home one day in April and found his concerned family assembled in the living room.

Olivea thought he had hidden his addiction to pain medications from those he loved. Instead, they flew from Florida to stage an intervention, prompting Olivea to enter the Betty Ford Center.

"The pain that I caused them, it was pretty humbling and gut-wrenching," Olivea said. "The last thing I want to do is hurt the people around me."

Four months later, Olivea is at Giants training camp at the University at Albany, hoping to make the best of a second chance at both life and football. A fifth-year offensive lineman, he practices with the back-ups and rookies and hopes just to make the team, a long way from his days as a well-paid starting tackle with the San Diego Chargers.

He spoke to reporters Monday in part to clear misconceptions about his struggles. He said he never used illegal substances. In April, he was suspended by the NFL for four games for missing a drug test, but that suspension later was rescinded -- Olivea said he was in rehab at the time the test was scheduled.

Olivea said he hesitated to speak to the media at first, for fear he might draw too much attention to himself. He said, "I'm no bigger, no more important than anybody."

"For the people who don't know, it's a nice little story," Olivea said. "For me, this is the story of life."

Olivea's pain from pills -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY

Shane Olivea feeling 'blessed' now after being addicted to pain medication
BY RALPH VACCHIANO
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Monday, July 28th 2008

ALBANY - Shane Olivea thought he had everyone fooled. He knew he was becoming addicted to pain medication, but he thought his family and friends were oblivious to the obvious signs.

And he believed that right up until the day in mid-April when he walked into his California home and saw his whole family sitting in his living room. He had just walked right into a classic intervention - "just like on A&E," he said.

His life would never be the same.

"Seeing my family in my living room, seeing how hurt they were, and the pain I caused them, it was pretty humbling and gut-wrenching," the Giants' new right tackle said. "You can hide a lot of things, but your real friends and real family, they know the real you. Obviously they saw a major change, a drastic change.

"Thank God they did."

Shane Olivea feeling 'blessed' now after being addicted to pain medication