Helmet to Helmet!

Jay Leeuwenburg started more than 120 games and lined up against eventual Hall of Famers Reggie White and Lawrence Taylor and many other fearsome opponents during a nine-year career in the National Football League.

But first he met Type 1 diabetes head-on.

Jay's determined refusal to let Type 1 diabetes prevent him from living life to the fullest - ultimately including unanimous selection as an All-American center at the University of Colorado and his highly successful pro career - is the subject of "Yes I Can! Yes You Can! Tackle Diabetes and Win."

This inspirational and richly entertaining story is "must" reading for anyone learning to live with diabetes.

And for parents, too.

Diagnosed just days after his 12th birthday, Jay immediately insisted that he be able to participate in any sports or activity he chose, including football. "To not participate," he says, "would be like saying, 'Don't breathe.'"

He became an all-state player in high school, and started at center in back-to-back national championship games against Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl. Between 1992 and 2000 he played for the Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Redskins. In 1996 he was one of pro football's first big-money free agents, and for a time was the highest paid center in the NFL.

Through it all he overcame widespread ignorance and prejudice about diabetes, and learned so much about his disease that he became, in his doctor's coined description, a "diabet-ologist."

Troubled by the absence of diabetic role models in athletics as he was growing up, Leeuwenburg also became a positive role model for children throughout the United States during his almost decade-long pro career.

Click here to order a copy of this book. Please check the box for "Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation" on the order form. $4.00 of every purchase goes to JDRF to fund Type 1 Diabetes research. Thank you!