This story is excerpted from QB: My Life Behind the Spiral by Steve Young with Jeff Benedict. To buy the book, click?here.In Week 2 of the 1993 season, we traveled to Cleveland to play the Browns on Monday Night Football. Stomach problems continued to dog me, and early in the game, I took a pretty good shot that left a deep bruise on my left thigh. Cleveland was a lousy team. But it was as if Clevelands defense knew our plays in advance. We couldnt figure out how they were doing it. I threw three interceptions and we lost 23-13.It was a long flight back to San Francisco. My left thumb, left elbow and left thigh were all hurting. By the time I got to my loft it was five in the morning. I was so beat I didnt bother undressing and collapsed on my bed. But I couldnt sleep. My mind wouldnt let me. Losing to Cleveland? Unacceptable. Starting the season 1-1? Unacceptable. Six interceptions in the first two games? Unacceptable.My thumb wasnt right. My elbow was sore. My stomach was a mess. I was fatigued. I had to play better.I tossed and turned all night. I was still awake at dawn. Panic set in. My body craved sleep, but my mind wouldnt wind down. I closed the curtains, pulled a pillow over my head, and finally dozed off. But the slightest flinch woke me.At 10, I crawled out of bed. My thigh felt like one giant charley horse. I gazed into a mirror and saw a man buckling under the weight of the world. The 49ers had to win this year. I had to deliver.My outlook was perplexing. On the one hand, I had incredible confidence in my ability as a quarterback. I was the MVP of the league. Yet I felt tethered to a ball and chain. I was the quarterback of a Super Bowl-caliber team. I knew what had to be done. But in the second week of the regular season I already felt the heaviness of anxiety.I went back to my bed and dropped to my knees and pleaded with God for help. I didnt want to do this anymore. But I also didnt want to quit. I still wanted to find out how good I could become. In the aftermath of Joe Montana, San Francisco was the hardest place in the world for a quarterback to play. But I still wanted to know: How far can I go?For now, I told myself, You just have to survive.I had been repeating this same mantra since high school. It had always seemed to get me through the seasons, but for some reason it wasnt doing the trick this time. For the next couple of days, I stumbled around in a fog. Finally, I called Carole Burr in Utah.Im not going to make it through this season, I told her.She stayed on the phone with me for hours. Shed been encouraging me to see a psychologist for a few years. This time she put her foot down. She said she was sending a doctor-friend to San Francisco. This time I was too mentally and physically exhausted to fight her.Rex Kocherhans (pronounced CO-ker-hans) was a 38-year-old family therapist with a practice back in Provo. He showed up the next day at the Merrills place, but by the time he arrived I had already left and checked into the team hotel. I was in my room with Brent Jones when Carol called and informed me that Rex was waiting at the barn.The guy didnt even know me. Yet he had gone to the trouble of flying to the Bay Area on a weekend. I couldnt stand him up. I told the team I was sick and needed to return home for the night.Kocherhans had an empathetic ear. We talked about my childhood, my family, my ambitions and my fears. I told him everything. He was pretty shocked. He asked if I had ever shared this with anyone. I told him I had gone to see a psychologist two years earlier. But I hadnt done any follow-up visits.We ended up talking through the night until Rex nodded off. By that point the sun was coming up. I told him to help himself to the couch. I had to get ready to go to the stadium.That jolted him.Youre going to go to the game?Of course Im going to the game.You havent slept. Youve been up for 24 hours straight.Well, actually, its closer to 36, but Ill see you after the game.So youre choosing to go to the game, huh?I dont want to go. I have to.Well, you dont have to go.I smiled. He didnt get it. Im the starting quarterback for the 49ers, I told him. I cant just not show up.They wont arrest you for not showing up, he said. You have a contract, and there will be implications. But you dont have to go.Im going to go to the game, I told him firmly. But Ill make you a promise. If we win today, Ill talk to the team doctor.Then I gave him a ticket to the game and said Id see him afterward.Sept. 19, 1993. Its warm and sunny at Candlestick, perfect football weather. But Im a mess -- nausea and vomiting. Plus, Im shivering and shaking. During pregame Dr. Klint thinks I might have gastritis or a bad case of the flu. He puts me on an IV. I dont bother telling him its anxiety. Besides, I need the fluids. I havent slept or eaten in almost 40 hours. Im weak, tired, and yawning nonstop.I feel like an uninvited guest at a house party when I walk onto the field. Its our first home game since Joe was traded to Kansas City. Fans hang signs of support for Joe all over the stadium. I read each one. I note that there are no signs supporting me.Suck it up, I tell myself, and I start by completing six of my first seven passes. Then a linebacker hits me head on, planting his helmet in the crown of my helmet. I jam my neck, and there are black streaks from his helmet on mine. Under later NFL rules, he would have been penalized.I keep going. By halftime I have two touchdown passes, but my head is throbbing and my neck hurts. In the locker room I get another IV before trying to battle back against Atlanta. With time winding down in the third quarter, we trail 20-16 and the crowd is uneasy. So am I. Desperate to make something happen, I drop back to pass from the Falcons 8-yard line. Im nearly sacked before scrambling free and spotting Ricky Watters in the end zone. I fire the ball. It hits defender Vinnie Clark in the chest and ricochets back toward me. The moment I see the ball in the air I run toward it, catch it, and head for the end zone before Im dragged down at the 2-yard line. Finally, some cheers from the home crowd.I expect a flag for catching my own pass. But the officials determine that a quarterback can complete a pass to himself. Apparently Y.A. Tittle did it once in 1959. On the next play we score to go up 23-20.We hang on to win 37-30, but on our final play I am struck on the side of the head and I feel something pop in my neck. I walk off the field gingerly.Despite being sleep-deprived, famished, and hampered by a jammed neck from a blow to the head, I have one of the best games of my career, completing 18 of 22 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns. I also rush for 52 yards and catch one of my own passes.I stagger to the training room, where I undergo a neurological exam. Dr. Klint tells me that I have a jammed neck and a mild concussion. After some electro-stimulation, he gives me an anti-inflammatory and puts a cervical soft collar on my neck.But my neck is the least of my problems. My emotions are on the surface, and I dont want anyone to see me this way. I lie on my back on the training table until everyone except Dr. Klint is gone. Then I sit up.Reggie, can I talk to you?He looks at me. Dry sweat and grass stains coat my skin. My hair is matted from my helmet.You look like you havent slept in days, he says.I havent.He closes the training room door.Steve, whats going on?I bury my face in my hands and start to shake.Its okay, Steve, he whispers.Reggie, Im really struggling.Yeah, I know.I start sobbing. Whats wrong with me, Reggie?He puts his arms around me.Im sure this doesnt make any sense to you, I continue.Steve?What?I understand, he whispers. I had bouts of this all throughout my days in medical school.I look up. Reggie is crying.I know all about anxiety, he says. I understand how it works.Is that what this is? I ask.I hug him and wipe my eyes.I watch the other guys and I know what Im feeling is different, I say. I dont get it.I know.I stay with Reggie for nearly an hour. He says hes going to arrange for me to go back to Dr. Stanley Fischman. This time he wants me to do more than go in for a visit. Reggie wants me to start seeing Stanley on a regular basis.I promise I will.Outside the stadium I meet back up with Rex Kocherhans, whom I have now known for a whole 24 hours. Laughing, he says to me: So let me get this straight: You have so much anxiety that you cant sleep, but then you go out and play spectacular football?I shrug.In my professional opinion, you should keep this up, he says, laughing. This seems to work.I thank him for flying out from Provo. He thanks me for the ticket to the game and the 24 hours of nonstop entertainment. Then I go back to my place and sleep for sixteen hours.Copyright ? 2016 by J. Steven Young. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved. Cheap Jerseys From China . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . Colin Wilson had two goals and an assist, and Mike Fisher scored a goal and helped set up two others in the Predators 6-4 victory over the Red Wings on Monday night. http://www.authenticnflwholesalejerseys.com/ . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. 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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Houston Texans cornerback Kevin Johnson remembers playing against Jacoby Brissett when both played in the Atlantic Coast Conference.I remember him being a good player, an athletic mobile quarterback, Johnson, who played at Wake Forest, said as his Texans prepared for Thursday nights game at the New England Patriots -- and against the rookie quarterback making his first NFL start.Hes a guy who can make the throws, a great player we have to respect and prepare for.Brissett, the former Florida and North Carolina State quarterback and No. 3 quarterback on the New England roster, moved up to No. 2 with the four-game Deflategate suspension of Tom Brady. Jimmy Garoppolo started the first two games but a shoulder injury to Garoppolo in the Week 2 win over the Dolphins shook up the depth chart again.While coach Bill Belichick is unlikely to declare it fact, Brissett is almost certainly the starter when these two 2-0 teams get together at Gillette Stadium.He has really good poise, very smart guy, says Texans coach Bill OBrien. Hes got good size. Hes like 235 pounds. Hes a good football player. When we evaluated him in the draft, we felt the same way then, too. Hes a bright guy and hes coached very well there.OBrien was Belichicks offensive coordinator before OBrien left to become head coach at Penn State. His defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel had the same job in New England. Linebackers coach Mike Vrabel played for the Patriots, as did nose tackle Vince Wilfork.In short, the Texans know the Patriots.But the familiarity with Brissett, who has played 34 minutes and attempted nine passes in the NFL, is another story.Tuesday, Belichick didnt officially declare Garoppolo, who suffered a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder, out for the game. He was listed as a limited participant on the official practice report.Belichick also wouldnt say if the Patriots were bringing in another quarterback. Wide receiver Julian Edelman, a quarterback in college at Kent State, would be available for emergencies.Jacobys done a good job for us, Belichick said. Hes improved every day. Hes a hard-working kid. Hes in here early, stays late, studies the game. Hes got good physical talent. Hes improved steadily since hes been here -- after the draft and all way through.Brissett was 6 of 9 and leed his team to what turned out to be the winning touchdown drive early in the second half on Sunday.dddddddddddd What was supposed to be a blowout turned close when the Miami Dolphins scored on three straight possessions and had a chance to tie.The Texans have not allowed a touchdown in six quarters and Houston notched wins over the Bears and Chiefs to come to Foxborough as a rare road favorite.The Texans are very good on defense ... they take the ball away, they create long-yardage situations, theyre one of the best third-down teams in the league again this year, which theyve been in the past, said Belichick, whose offense has been missing tight end Rob Gronkowski (hamstring) for the first two games and may not have him again. They dont give up many points. The biggest challenge is always scoring points -- thats the name of the game, thats what we play for. They havent given up many. Im sure it wont be easy to score -- well have to do a good job, execute well.Belichick was asked by the Houston media via conference call if star defensive end J.J. Watt reminds him at all of Lawrence Taylor, the Hall of Fame linebacker he coached as an assistant with the Giants. The pair are the only two players ever to win NFL defensive player of the year honors three times.They both play pretty hard, yeah, Belichick said. I think J.J. is a relentless, a relentless player. Very instinctive and Id say a lot like Taylor, when at the most critical times in the most important plays, thats where those guys showed the most and thats what great players do.The New England defense, which is missing key pass-rushing linebacker Rob Ninkovich (suspension), shut Ryan Tannehill out in the first quarter Sunday, but then saw the Dolphins quarterback throw for 389 yards in the last three quarters.Brock Osweiler, the quarterback who played such an important part in the Denver Broncos run to the title last year, is 41 of 68 for 499 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions in his first two games running the Houston offense.New Englands LeGarrette Blount and Houstons Lamar Miller, the running backs for the two teams, have run for 193 and 189 yards, respectively, in the first two games. 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