Former NFLer Slayden Lucky To Be Alive

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Oakmont, Pa. -- The way Steve Slayden sees it, every day is a bonus. To be able to grip a club, let alone play golf? It goes way beyond words.

No one could have predicted a golfing future for Steve Slayden after his setback in 1990. (John Mummert/USGA)

How can something so right for a gifted athlete go so wrong with the body? That is Slayden’s question to which only a higher being can answer.

Born with a congenital defect in his brain stem, the 37-year-old Slayden underwent major surgery in 1990 to remove a blood clot “the size of a golf ball” in his brain stem, he said. For two long years he recuperated. Since then he has a motor coordination deficit on the left side of his body. It’s hardly visible, but watching him lumber up the 18th fairway Wednesday en route to beating Jay Reynolds 1 up, one could spot the hitch if they were looking hard enough.

After winning, the Charlotte, N.C., resident motioned toward his dad, Kay. The two embraced outside the ropes.

"I am very proud of him. We’re very lucky,” said Kay.

In the mid-1980s, Slayden’s athleticism put him on the fast track to an NFL career. The Cleveland Browns liked what they saw of his quarterbacking skills at Duke University and selected him in the 12th round of the 1988 draft. Slayden played a year with Cleveland before moving onto the Kansas City Chiefs, who cut him the next year.

Then on a trip to Australia with six friends in 1990, Slayden started experiencing strange things. He couldn’t feel the toes in his left foot, to the point that he could only drag the foot. His left hand became numb. Slayden rushed back to the United States before being admitted to Shands Hospital in Gainseville, Fla., which is aligned with the University of Florida.

"It kinda went downhill quick from there,” said Slayden, unaware he had a congenital defect.

Slayden had what neurosurgeon Art Day called an angioma – a tumor -- or malformed vein causing the lump in his stem. It wasn’t malignant, but if left alone, Slayden would get much worse. It took medical staff a month to prep him for surgery.

On the night before the surgery, then-Duke coach Steve Spurrier stayed visiting with the Slaydens. “It was the same day he announced he was taking the University of Florida job,” said Kay.

Slayden underwent surgery for 12 grueling hours.

"The doctor had to go through the size of a golf ball dimple to extract the size of a golf ball,” said Slayden in between gulps of beer in the clubhouse. “This mercifully happened after football.”

The next two years Slayden went through therapy, knowing that the motor skills on his left side would be permanently affected. The biggest adjustment was reconnecting to his equilibrium. He said the first time he went into a shower post-surgery, he shut his eyes, only to find himself crashing against the back of the stall.

For a long time, therapists would have him close his eyes, and with both arms stretched straight out, they would press down on the left arm while the right would remain stationary. They’d ask him to let them know when both arms were at equal distances. More times than not, Slayden would guess wrong. The left arm would be down by his hip.

By 1992, feeling much better, Slayden decided to pursue golf. The athlete in him craved competition. He set a goal of making amateur tournaments. First, he got his handicap index to five. Then he improved to the point that he started qualifying. Since then, he was appeared in three U.S. Mid-Amateurs and three British Amateurs. This is his fourth U.S. Amateur.

"I’m happy to be alive, first off. And secondly, to be able to play at a high level …” he said, his voice trailing off.

The ultimate aspiration is to one day play in the Masters.

While on the course he sometimes draws comparisons to his football days, delving into the psyche of being a quarterback.

"There’s so much of the mental side to both [golf and quarterbacking],” he said. “The difference is that in football, it’s more of a reactionary sport. There’s a lot of time to think when you throw an interception, because you have to wait to get the ball back.

"If you make a double bogey in golf, you have to go on to the next hole and wait it out. You can’t let your emotions, let your aggression, out in golf or quarterbacking.

"In football if you get blindsided one time, you’re not nervous anymore. You’re mad. In golf, if you make a double bogey because you’re nervous, you have to ask yourself, ‘Why am I nervous?’”

As he advances to his next match, Slayden, now a real estate broker, can savor at least one victory this week. Rather, make it two. Because little does he know it, but the recuperation stage continues. For one, it’s another baby step toward the Masters quest. And another stride in the walk of life.