'I’m going out my way:' Jordan Poyer is here to fight

Read our latest feature inside. It was a wild ride. The Buffalo Bills vet did not hold back.

Go Long

“Shine a light. Shine it where it’s dark. I’m a light warrior. We all are light warriors. And when the light hits the darkness, it’s a web.”

Good morning! Hope everyone is recovering because, holy. What an outlandish Week 16 in the NFL that was, from the Green Bay Packers’ implosion at Soldier Field… to a wild Lions/Steelers finish… to Liam Coen’s Jaguars asserting themselves as legit.

Amid the madness, there was another fascinating sight.

Jordan Poyer, at 34 years old, was the difference in the Buffalo Bills gritting out an ugly 23-20 win over the Cleveland Browns. He thought he was finished. He was ready to kick his feet up on the beach in South Florida, latte in hand. Why is he still playing? This return to Orchard Park, NY felt more like a calling.

I sat down with Poyer for our latest feature at Go Long, icymi.

• Alcohol abuse. He’d rip through a six pack of Southern Tier IPA every day after practice. (“When I was drinking, when I couldn’t separate the difference between football and home, I was walking around with a mask on, pretending to be this, when deep down inside my soul knows like, ‘Bro, you’re bullshitting.’”)

• Toradol. Sure, Poyer took a van to play at Arrowhead. But it came at a grim cost to his body. (“After the game? My stomach? I couldn’t bear the pain. When the medicine wears off, you feel the effects of the actual soreness from the game.”)

• PTSD over Damar Hamlin’s near death. After witnessing this up close? Nothing else mattered. (“That fucked me up. That fucked me up for a long time. I didn’t care after that.”)

• Cluster headaches dropping Poyer to his knees, begging for mercy the night before a playoff game. He got zero sleep. (“Like my head was getting cracked open every time.”)

• Ayahuasca. An inside look at the drug that made Poyer look at a life in a completely new way. (“This is how I can help change the world. Realize you have the power. That’s what I’m trying to teach people.”)

• Star Seeds. He believes we all descend from the stars… and Poyer is determined to fight evil, fight whoever’s watching over us 24/7/365. (“I hope you’re listening. I’m not done talking. I’m not done fighting.”)

• Aliens. He expects aliens to reveal themselves by 2027.

This is Poyer’s last stand. We got into everything.

Can’t say I’ve had a conversation quite like this one in a long time.

The last five years have been an odyssey. You can read the story in full right here:

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Thank you, all.

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