Nov 11, 2005 By Jennifer Harr 4 min read

Steve Courson not only left his mark as an NFL player, but as a health and fitness expert in Fayette County who drew upon his experiences to teach others how to live better. His colleagues at the Fayette County Community Action Agency (FCAA) were shocked Thursday to learn of his death. The 50-year-old former Steeler, a health and fitness consultant for the agency through its Healthy Living Program, died after being pinned under a tree at his Henry Clay Township home.

“I’m so upset. It just doesn’t seem real,” said Betty Zackal, project manager of the Healthy Living Program.

Zackal worked closely with Courson through the program.

Through the Healthy Living Program, Courson spoke to various groups, from elementary school children through the elderly. Zackal said he especially enjoyed talking to high school students.

Madeline Sloboda, director of operations at the Fayette County Community Action Agency lauded Courson as someone who helped people set realistic fitness goals by focusing them on what they liked to do as a form of exercise.

“I can always remember him saying, ‘do something that you like to do. Don’t set yourself up to fail,'” she said.

Sloboda said anyone who listened to Courson talk knew he truly believed in what he was saying.

“He lived it,” Sloboda said. “It was a lifestyle change for him.”

Courson himself was a medical miracle. In 1988, he was diagnosed with dilated-cardiomyopathy, a disease that results in weakness and enlargement of the heart muscle. Doctors told him he would be dead without a heart transplant. With The Zone diet, a specialized combination of carbohydrates, protein and fat, and regular exercise, Courson was able to restore his health, and was removed from the active transplant list.

Courson also was outspoken about steroid use in the NFL, and admitted to taking the performance-enhancement drugs himself. He testified about the ill-effects of steroids on different occasions.

Both his health problems and his experience with steroids were part of the talks he gave.

Through his speeches, Courson not only inspired people, but moved them with his personal tales of overcoming hardship. During a service awards dinner for FCCA, Zackal said Courson freely shared the fear he had when he was diagnosed with heart problems.

He told the group that he went through a depression, eating doughnuts and feeling forlorn, but ultimately brought himself out of it.

“It touched all of the people in the audience that he would bring out the feelings of what he went through,” Zackal said. “Even people that were normally very subdued went up to him and told him how touched they were.”

While it was sometimes Courson’s background as a Steeler that caught audience’s attention, Sloboda said it was his message that resonated.

“He was just incredible,” she said.

Courson was determined to show people that change was possible.

“He had a mission. He wanted to give back to his community, so he focused a lot on helping people who didn’t have the resources to go to a gym,” Sloboda said.

He encouraged them to talk a walk in the mall, or in the woods, both places Courson frequently walked.

His October was booked with speaking engagements, something that made Courson happy, Zackal said. He truly enjoyed spreading word of his healthy lifestyle and encouraging people to follow suit in a way that worked for them.

Zackal said he never turned down speaking engagements because of his hope that he could inspire people to get healthy.

Courson had appearance scheduled for early next year and both Uniontown and Laurel Highlands senior high schools.

At a recent appearance at A.L. Wilson Elementary School, Courson spoke to a group of younger students. Zackal said the children were dressed in black and gold. Some had their faces painted. He asked them questions about fruits and vegetables and enjoyed hearing the youngsters yell out a “Go Steelers” chant.

FCCA senior development consultant Kary Coleman said the success of the Healthy Living Program was largely due to Courson’s dedicated participation. It was a relationship that benefited both the community and Courson. With his dedication for living a healthy life, and his ability to share his struggles to get there with people, Coleman said Courson was “the perfect fit” for the Healthy Living Program.

“He loved what he did with our program,” Coleman said. “And he was really excited to see the movement” towards better health in the county.

The program started in October 2004 and the agency recently received funding to conduct it for two more years, hoping to continue partnering with Courson.

“He truly impacted a lot of lives,” Sloboda said.