RRP 134 — Walter B.body{max-width:850px;margin:0 auto;padding:32px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.6;color:#0F1123;background:#F2EAD5}h1,h2{color:#771719;line-height:1.2}.meta{color:#3C82C1;font-weight:bold}.time{display:inline-block;padding:2px 8px;margin-right:6px;border-radius:14px;background:#0F1123;color:#fff;font-size:.82em;font-weight:bold}a{color:#F45331;font-weight:bold}blockquote{margin:24px 0;padding:18px 22px;border-left:5px solid #F45331;background:#fff;font-size:1.15em}blockquote cite{display:block;margin-top:8px;font-size:.8em;font-style:normal;color:#3C82C1}.buttons a{display:inline-block;margin:6px 8px 6px 0;padding:10px 14px;border-radius:5px;background:#F45331;color:#fff;text-decoration:none}li{margin:9px 0}RRP 134 — Walter B. / From the Trap House to Kona, Part 1: 3 Rose Bowls, Then the Cheering StoppedPresenters: Julie L and Peter DEpisode length: 1:07:06Release date: Friday, October 2, 2026 Walter B. grew up in Northeast Portland running before he could walk. Sports carried him from the Albina Roadrunners to Benson High School and the University of Washington, where he went to three Rose Bowls. In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, Walter tells Julie and Peter what happened when the cheering stopped: the drinking and weed that followed him from high school, getting cut by the New York Giants, years of homelessness, and a trap house in Northeast Portland. Then his best friend Matt came for him. Walter shares how he found his footing in AA, went to treatment at DePaul, and got to see his father one last time, sober. Key points00:09:16Walter was 40, in a trap house with no food or water, when someone told him the 12 steps don't work.00:11:00Growing up in Northeast Portland, running track at four or five, and Phil Knight showing up at meets with a bag full of track shoes.00:13:01Acting out at school, and a household where what happened at home stayed at home.00:15:00Benson High, a two-liter California Cooler at 13, and weed before his freshman year.00:24:17When the cheering stopped: Western Washington, then the University of Washington.00:25:33Meeting Kurt Cobain at a party, three Rose Bowls, and a share of a national championship.00:29:00The loneliness behind the fame, and late-night walks to the viaduct to sit with homeless people.00:32:16A contract with the New York Giants, a positive test, getting cut, and choosing to party.00:37:00Homeless from 1994 to 2008 while tiptoeing around the neighborhood where his family lived, and crack in 1998.00:44:35Two daughters, the loneliness, and the darkest point of his use.00:45:23In the trap house, Walter hears himself say the 12 steps do work.00:46:21He calls his best friend, Matt, who asks if he's willing to do something different.00:47:52Matt pulls up, Walter grabs his bag, and never looks back.00:49:32Calling his mom and dad, AA meetings every day, and treatment at DePaul.00:51:01An emergency pass to see his father, and the words "I got my baby back."00:52:48Julie shares the last days with her mom, and Peter talks about caring for his dad.00:56:45A daughter who just got married, a youngest child starting college, and the repairs he began making with his family.00:59:24Caring for his mom, becoming a counselor at DePaul, and learning his father may have done the best he could.01:03:44Breaking the cycle, and a man who says he is still under construction.Websites discussedAlcoholics Anonymous · Narcotics Anonymous · Central City Concern · Hooper Detoxification Stabilization Center · DePaul Treatment Centers · Portland Rescue Mission · Transcending Hope Institute · Real Recovery Podcast “I got to make it right with my father before he passed.”Walter B.Listen to Episode 134Read the episode blogNewsletter #RealRecoveryPodcast #Recovery #Sobriety #RecoveryStory #AddictionRecovery #Portland @realrecoverypodcast
