Miami Dolphin Blake Ferguson Talks About Playing and Living With Type 1 Diabetes

Blake Ferguson, 27, is a long snapper for the Miami Dolphins who snaps the ball to the punter or the holder during a field goal attempt – both key moments of a game. What distinguishes him even further is that he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 13.

Type 1 diabetes, which was once called insulin-dependent or juvenile diabetes, often develops in children, teens, and young adults – although it can happen at any age. Type 1 diabetes is less common than type 2 — about 5 to 10 percent of people with diabetes have type 1, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Many watching him on the field likely know he lives with type 1, inspiring his fans on the field and working hard off the field, raising funds and awareness for the cause,” states broadcaster Mike Cugno, who recently hosted a Baptist HealthTalk podcast, Blake Ferguson on Playing Professionally with Type 1 Diabetes, with Mr. Ferguson and Angel Alejandro, M.D., endocrinologist at Baptist Health. 

“There is nothing about type 1 diabetes that can keep you from achieving everything that you want to in life," said Mr. Ferguson. "Whether that's being a musician, an athlete, a lawyer, a doctor -- whatever amazing thing you have aspirations for being."

Mr. Ferguson is one of only four active players in the National Football League with type 1 diabetes, which is thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction (the body attacks itself by mistake). This reaction destroys the cells in the pancreas that make insulin, called beta cells. This process can go on for months or years before any symptoms appear.

“It was kind of scary,” recalls Mr. Ferguson, who was drafted by the Dolphins in 2020 after playing for LSU (Louisiana State University). “When I was diagnosed, I was halfway through my eighth-grade year and I had lost weight, which is abnormal as a 13-year-old boy playing football. I was drinking water all the time. I was thirsty all the time, which is one of the key symptoms of high blood sugar. Consequently, I was waking up in the middle of the night all the time having to go use the restroom. And so there came a point where my mom was like: ‘We got to get you to the doctor and we got to see what's going on.’ “

His blood sugar level was dangerously elevated, closer to 400 mg/dL than the normal 100 mg/dL.

“So, then I was referred to our children's hospital there in Atlanta, where I grew up,” he explains. “And I was in the hospital for about a week learning about this new disease that I had. I was getting my blood sugar under control, and just understanding what life was going to be like from there on out.”

More than 38 million Americans have diabetes (about 1 in 10), and about 90 to 95 percent of them have type 2 diabetes, which most often develops in people 45 or older. However, more and more children, teens, and young adults are also developing it.

An additional 96 million U.S. adults — more than 1 in 3 — has prediabetes. And more than 8 in 10 of them don’t know they have it. With prediabetes, blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough for a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.

Dr. Alejandro explains the difference between the two types in further detail.

“When we talk about patients with type 1 diabetes, they're insulin deficient,” said Dr. Alejandro. “They don't make enough insulin. It's an autoimmune condition. You make antibodies that attack … the cells within the pancreas that make insulin. So, those patients don't make any insulin. Type 2 diabetes is a little bit different. They make insulin, but their body's resistant to the action of the insulin. We want to pull that glucose from the blood into the cells. Glucose is the fuel for the cells, and when you have resistance, that glucose stays in the blood and it ends up having hyperglycemia (abnormally high level of glucose). And that's the main difference. With type 1, you don't make enough. With type 2, you have resistance and the numbers are different.“

“So, how do you manage it with type 1 diabetes?” asks podcast host Mr. Cugno of Mr. Ferguson. “Are there things you do in the off-season that might be different than you do during the season?”

Mr. Ferguson: “The biggest thing that I do is just creating a good routine. I eat pretty much the same thing for breakfast, the same for lunch, and then dinner changes up a little bit. I try to keep a pretty strict routine because I know how my body will respond to certain foods. And even though I wear an insulin pump and take insulin, one certain type of food may have sugar in it. That's a simple sugar that would spike my blood sugar before it comes back down. Whereas there may be some other foods that are more complex carbs that are going to be a little bit slower. And add a little bit of protein in there and sort of lighten the spike in your blood sugar -- which in the long-term your body will thank you for.

“So, over the years of doing this and being a diabetic -- and now being a professional athlete who has diabetes -- I don't really have to even think about it because I've always had to be so aware of what's going on in my body.”