HJBR Jan/Feb 2022

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  JAN / FEB 2022 27 TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY: A Former Pro Athlete’s Approach to Middle Age Transformation. It is said every cell in the human body is replaced every seven years. If that is the case, we are constantly being transformed; who we were a moment ago isn’t the same person we are right now, and certainly not the same as we were years ago. Some elements seem to linger — perhaps it is the soul that shines through, the essence of who we are … but that is another topic for another day. Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing an old college friend, Jerry Fontenot. Jerry, a Louisiana native, was a college football player at the time I knew him. Jerry went on to an extended NFL career, playing 16 years as a 6’4”, 298-lb center and then went on as an assistant NFL coach for 10 years, winning a Super Bowl with Green Bay in 2010. When I ran into Jerry last year, I wouldn’t have recognized him if a friend had not sent a picture of him earlier. He had transformed. This mammoth of a man had turned into a lean, chiseled, thoughtful pursuer of health. His journey at 54, now 55 is inspirational to me, and I felt it might be to you as well. I have asked Jerry to join the Journal team as a correspondent beginning next issue. He graciously accepted, but first, I wanted to have the privilege of introducing, or reintroducing, him to those of you who may or may not have remembered him from back-in-the-day. I hope you are as equally inspired to pursue optimal health as I am by Jerry. He seems to have a way of quietly making you want to feel whole. And that, in my opinion, begins with optimal health, one of his passions. ONE ON ONE JERRY FONTENOT