i was going through your socials before this interview and did i see that your book which is in the background there from struggle to strength written by harry becerras who's from pittsburgh um did i see that you won an award in africa

Oh, my gosh, I could go on and on about this.

I won an African Laureate Award.

And I will tell you the greatest, it gave me chills.

My son, who recently graduated from Kent State, and he's starting a second degree here in probably about a week with Kent State up in East Liverpool.

was given a National Courage Award.

And we were in New York when he was receiving it because he allowed me to write this.

There's something going on

But how old was he? And, and when you talk about being stubborn, what, what was, what was going on for you in that time?

Sure.

And I'll riff on this 'cause I think it's important, and dads need to hear this.

Um, so he was diagnosed at three, but let me back up.

My wife was home with him a lot more than me, right? I'm working.

And she kept saying, "Harry, there's oddities here.

He won't look me in the eye.

But as you look at your book from, like, a 30,000-foot view, what, what are you most excited about as far as, like, some of the, the value that you've shared and some of the things that, that men can learn after reading that book?

And then the book.

Exactly.

So basically, I was that, you know, I was in my 20s.

I wanted to succeed.

I was a boxer.

I was doing well at work.

And if you can't tell by now, I'm a lunatic type A.

It's incredible.

What were your initial reactions to your child's autism diagnosis? And what were some of the biggest struggles you experienced during that time?

This is a key juncture in my book, and it's right in the beginning.

And let me say this.

I have a hero in my book is my wife, Michelle.

She's remarkable.

And I'm going to discuss her in a second.

I'm the father to Gus and Max.

What was the turning point in your own journey where you felt your perspective shift? I know you talked about it a little bit, but the feeling, the weight of the struggle to finding the strength.

Can you take us back to kind of that moment when he was diagnosed and kind of what was happening inside you and your thoughts?

Oh, it, it, it's a great question.

So first, again, t-to kind of get to know me, I'm, I'm a raging type A social butterfly, a high energy, comedic.

So my brain could not wrap around the thought process that my son might have an issue.

So my wife was the hero in the beginning, my wife Michelle.

She dove in.

She said, "Hey, I'm telling you, there's something wrong." She was noticing lack of eye contact, and I guess I did too, but I didn't think anything of it.

... is like, "This is great, but my marriage is also struggling," or, "My relationship is also struggling"? Do you have any kind of wisdom in that as well of how to parent a child on the spectrum, but also kind of hold some sort of relationship with their spouse?

Can we chat a little bit about that and that experience for you?

Absolutely.

So if you haven't, if you haven't been able to tell by now, I'm a lunatic Type A.

So I am the type, and I say this in my book, and I c- I can have fun at an insurance seminar.

If you get me in a monastery, we're doing shots of Greek ouzo.

You know what I mean? Opa.

And I never could wrap my head around the fact that I had a son that might have something that would, uh, cause difficulty in terms of socializing, think processing.

With Gus being in college now, about to graduate, which is amazing, when you look back at his schooling journey, 'cause I know so many neurodiverse kids struggle with traditional schooling systems, what was that journey like for you with Gus?

Heading into this draft, was round five kind of the area you thought Kyle Lewis would go, or did you think he might go a little earlier? What was kind of the expectations around Pitt of where Kyle Lewis might go?

Let me say this first and foremost.

I think you landed one of the top five steals of the draft.

And obviously, it's why you have me here to expound on that.

I think what occurred, and typically when there's a player that's a tweener, And that's exactly what Kyle is.

And there was some confusion as to whether he was a safety, a linebacker.

And I think sometimes when you have a hybrid like that, people don't know where to place them.

nickel.