NEW REPORTER: Ben Utecht had a successful career

as a tight end in the NFL.

He played with the Indianapolis Colts

when they won Super Bowl 41 in the 2006 season.

But Ben's success didn't come without bumps and bruises.

He suffered five concussions during the years he played.

And by 2009, was experiencing memory loss at the age of 28.

In his book Counting the Days While My Mind Slips Away,

Ben shares an emotional love letter to his family.

And tells how faith keeps him strong, as he

faces an uncertain future.

Ben Utecht joins us now.

It's a pleasure to have you here.

Thanks for having me.

Your book's very unique.

At least I found it unique.

Especially in terms of-- It's a very macho, football book.

Hits, bumps, bruises.

Showing how violent the game is, yet it's a love story.

Yeah.

It's your journey with Christ.

And I think a lot of times, people

forget watching guys in the NFL, that there are men and families

behind their career.

And tell us what is going on now with their health,

before we get into some of these other details?

Where are you now with the brain injuries?

Well, the journey-- really this transformational exit

of the NFL and trying to rediscover who I am as a man

today, has been a lot more difficult

than I thought it would be.

Especially amidst the fears that come out of memory loss.

And you know I'm 29, 30 years old.

I'm discovering that I have these major, long term memory

gaps.

Some of the events in my life that were the most important

has really made that journey difficult.

But it's been an amazing process, because I've

realized how important my memories are

to the makeup of who I am.

And that's changed the way that I value my life and the purpose

that I have.

And reading your book reminds-- or makes someone

think about for the first time that if I

lose my memories, who am I?

And the heart break.

You have this beautiful wife, four gorgeous daughters.

And what scares you most now about being a dad

and husband in regard to this?

BEN UTECHT: Well, that I-- I won't

recognize those faces that you're looking at right now.

I think you know, if I-- When I get really emotional it's

the idea that I can look them in the face some day

and they won't have any relevance to me,

because really relevance resides in what we can remember.

And so at 29 and 30, facing some of those memory issues,

I look at the former players who are in their 50s and 60s.

And how this brain disease CTE has manifested itself

in their lives.

And I can't help but think, is that what's in store?

But there are things.

There are things we can do.

The book has-- The whole end of the book is hope.

Especially, revolving this cognitive training

that I've done.

In the last year I've poured into strengthening

my cognitive abilities.

And I have to say it's had tremendous impact on my memory.

And if that happens, and we pray it won't, your wife

is going to be able to hand this book to your daughters

and say, look how much daddy loves you.

Right.

And that's the reason.

I mean, that's why I wrote the song with a couple of friends.

And--

People may not know.

I'm going to show a clip from that.

People may not know that you're an excellent, very

successful singer.

BEN UTECHT: Oh, well that-- That's

kind of the fun part about my story,

is the singing Super Bowler.

I mean, nobody expects that.

But my very first entrance in the Indianapolis sports market

was as a singer.

I got asked to sing the national anthem for the preseason

game against the Bills.

So Indianapolis saw me first as a singer,

than they did as a football player.

So tell us about the song you wrote,

and we're going to see a clip.

Yeah.

So "You will always be my girl," was

a song that came out of a letter to my wife and daughters,

if in fact the day comes, when I begin to lose memory of them.

And it was a very therapeutic process that I went through.

Very challenging.

But the song came out of that.

And really the book is a journey through that story.

ANDREW KNOX: Yeah.

And the title, "Counting the days when my mind slips away,"

is the first line of the song.

And it's really, this is about getting people

to emotionally connect how important their mind

and their memories are.

Let's take a quick look at the music video.

[MUSIC - BEN UTECHT, "YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MY GIRL"]

BEN UTECHT (SINGING): I'm in here counting the days

while my mind is slipping away.

I'll hold on, as long as I can to you.

Ben, as I was reading the book and I saw the music video

online, I was thinking as a dad, it

reminded me there should be no throwaway moments

for the children and my wife.

Mm-hmm.

And you're experiencing that.

Yeah, that's-- I think you just said it perfectly.

I think for me, when I began to realize

how critical my memories are to my identity,

then I began to value those little moments.

Like as we talked when my daughter comes down the stairs

and walks in and wants to sit down, as I'm reading my Bible.

You know, I value that more now.

And now that I value those moments more,

how does it make me a better man, a better husband, a better

father?

And that's kind of where the journey has come.

And that's where the whole faith element comes in,

because once the Lord taught me the depth of surrender,

of handing all control over to him, handing all trust,

put it in his hands.

Proverbs 3:5 and 6.

Then it's OK.

ANDREW KNOX: Because you were going-- You had a,

you specifically speak of a morning

hiding under the sheets.

Essentially, looking out and then getting up,

looking out the window.

You didn't want to get out of bed, right?

I mean, you had at least that day given up.

Yeah, there have been many days over the last five to six

years, where I've woken up and looked out the window

and just thought, what am I doing here?

And feeling a lack of purpose.

And this process has really-- especially writing this book,

has really given me a chance to work through those emotions

and realize how blessed I truly am.

And my family and my faith are so intergral in that.

So how has-- What did you surrender recently

to Jesus regarding this?

BEN UTECHT: It's so funny.

Myself.

You know, I realize that surrender

is this foundational element, this choice that we

have to make where we give all of ourselves

completely over to him.

That's what he wants.

He wants every ounce of us.

When I gave everything I had on the football field to win

a football game, right, that's what he's calling...

ANDREW KNOX: You guys give it all.

You give everything you have.

You pour it all out.

And that's what we need to do in our relationship with Jesus.

And I think that really understanding

that lesson of surrender-- And I do

a lot of speaking, that's what I do now.

And to really impart that is critical.

Regarding your career, you had a great college and pro career

Super Bowl champion.

What is it that makes you guys go back out there, and back

out there, and back out there when it was not

good for your health?

Or maybe were people unaware?

You got bad council?

BEN UTECHT: There's a lot of things

I think we can all understand, like wanting to be there

for your team, wanting to be there for your coaches,

wanting to be there for your community.

These are all people that you care about,

and you don't want to let them down.

But then there's something deeper than that,

and that's the sense of purpose and potential.

I mean, I remember telling my wife

that probably one of my-- the thing that fills me

with the most sadness about having to leave early,

was that I never felt like I reached my potential.

I couldn't walk away from the game saying,

yes that's the best that I could have been.

And that's hard for me, being competitive.

And I think that's a part of being an athlete,

is we want to reach our potential.

We want to leave our craft saying that we've

become the best that we can be.

And you've done a great job in the book of reminding us

of the value we find in Jesus Christ, even when the thing

we used to put our identity in, is

no longer a part of our life.

Yeah, that's a great way to say it.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

It's a tremendous book, if you'd like to get a hold of it.

It's called Counting the Days While My Mind Slips Away.

It's available wherever books are sold.

And after reading it, you may never

look at another football game quite the same.