Steelers legend Alan Faneca opens up about epilepsy in new campaign

Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Famer, Alan Faneca, talks about his battle with epilepsy and raises awareness through his Steps Toward Zero campaign. 

Recently, I had the privilege of chatting with Pittsburgh Steelers legend, Alan Faneca, in an interview. The Hall of Fame offensive lineman shared some of his fondest memories during his time in Pittsburgh as well as his favorite Bill Cowher moment.

After over a decade of paving roads in the NFL for running backs, Faneca is now leading the charge for a cause that is very close to his heart. During our interview, Faneca talked about his battle with epilepsy and his new Steps Toward Zero campaign.

Since a young age, Faneca has had epilepsy — a central nervous system disorder in which brain activity becomes abnormal, causing seizures. However, Faneca didn’t let this stand in the way of his dreams, as he was able to have an outstanding 13-year NFL career.

Faneca is now reaching out in an effort to raise epilepsy awareness. Here was his response when I asked him to talk about his Steps Toward Zero campaign:

"Whoever is not aware out there, I do have epilepsy, so anytime something comes my way that I can jump on board and help out, I’m really excited to be a part of it. SK Life Science came to me and asked me to be a part of their ‘Steps Toward Zero’ campaign… We are trying to engage, inspire, and activate the epilepsy community, as well as destigmatize it…One in twenty-six people will develop epilepsy at some point in their life, so the chances that you know somebody with epilepsy who is probably just keeping it to themselves is probably pretty strong. But we are trying to engage the community to get everybody out there that has epilepy to revisit their doctors and come up with a new plan. So many people who have epilepsy have stayed on the same medical path and plan for years… Getting back and revistiting with your doctor is just an oportunity to maybe have a better chance of life.”"

Alan Faneca knows what it’s like to deal with a condition like epilepsy. Now he’s giving back through the Steps Toward Zero campaign in an effort to raise awareness, engage the epilepsy community, and encourage people with epilepsy to meet with their doctors.

This is an outstanding cause. Faneca continued by noting how lucky he was to have only missed two games to injuries in his NFL career that spanned over a decade. His string of good health no aided in his ability to quickly develop into one of the best offensive guards in the league.

After speaking out on a cause close to his heart, Faneca shared some of his funniest and fondest Steelers memories. He talked about what his diet was like when he was playing and the transformation of his body after his NFL career. The Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Famer also shared his most memorable moment with head coach Bill Cowher as well as his reaction to receiving his gold jacket.

In addition to answering to sharing some heart-warming stories, Faneca also gives props to a former underrated Steelers teammate — calling him the best player he has ever gone up against.

To catch the whole interview with Alan Faneca, visit our Still Curtain YouTube channel here. Be sure to subscribe for more Steelers interviews, podcasts, and shorts. To learn more about Faneca’s cause, please visit StepsTowardZero.com.