At his darkest moment, when the worst thoughts flooded his soul, Mike Pereira wondered whether it was time to give up. Nothing alleviated his back pain — not yoga, not pilates, not any of the various methods of pain management his doctors recommended. Something we take for granted, stepping out of bed each morning, became too excruciating to endure.

Pereira had spent 14 years as an NFL sideline judge and vice president for league officiating before transitioning into a broadcasting pioneer — the first rules analyst for NFL broadcasts when Fox Sports hired him in 2010. But last year, at age 73 and in deep agony, his mind wandered to a dark place. He said he had suicidal thoughts.

“I had never experienced anything like the pain I had,” Pereira said. “I almost gave up. I mean, I almost gave up on life as I knew it. I became such a burden to anybody around me and in so much pain that I laid in my bed saying, ‘Is it really worth this?’ I never thought of myself as someone who would contemplate that. When you’re in that much pain and it slips into your mind one time, it keeps going around your mind. You have to fight it.”

Now, after missing the entire 2023 NFL season, Pereira is back on television for Fox, working a full schedule of college football and NFL games. That’s the result of successful spinal surgery in November at a San Francisco hospital, an 8 1/2-hour procedure that involved fusing seven levels of Pereira’s spinal vertebrae. Pereira was hospital-bound for a week after the surgery, followed by another in-patient week at a rehab facility in Sacramento, Calif.

He was told the surgery was successful, but it didn’t feel that way as he lay helpless in his hospital bed in November. He couldn’t sleep, he could barely move, and his blood pressure would crash anytime he attempted to get out of bed. Finally, he was able to get into a wheelchair, then he moved up to navigating a walker.

“I felt a sense of accomplishment over the simplest things,” he said. “When you’ve been that low and then you feel the accomplishment of being able to achieve something that you couldn’t do before, your attitude changes.”

The healing continued, and Pereira was strong enough to travel to the NFC Championship Game in San Francisco in January. He surprised Fox’s top NFL crew during a production meeting at their hotel and was overwhelmed by his colleagues leaping out of their chairs to greet him.

“The sincere and genuine love that I felt at that moment was overwhelming,” Pereira said. “That moment convinced me I was coming back to work.”

I’m back and well in Cleveland. I’m so thankful! pic.twitter.com/N7bggnmRo4

— Mike Pereira (@MikePereira) September 8, 2024

Pereira said his top bosses at Fox Sports — CEO Eric Shanks and executive producer Brad Zager — asked him prior to the season how much travel he wanted to do, and he has opted for eight or nine regular-season games on the road (he switches off with fellow rules analyst Dean Blandino) and the rest working from Fox’s Century City studios. (When Pereira and Blandino work from the studio, they watch games from what Fox Sports employees call the “Sky Box,” which is where the pregame show is done.) His road trips so far have included Cleveland for Week 1 and Dallas last week. This week, Pereira will work from Los Angeles — one college game Friday night, nine college games Saturday and four NFL games Sunday.

“I’m now almost 10 1/2 months from the surgery, and I can walk 2 miles a day,” he said. “I can do just about everything that I could before with the exception of I can’t put shoes on by myself. I’ve been after Howie Long to give me some Skechers, but he’s not come through yet (laughs). But I don’t care about any of the small issues because I have my life back. I mean, it was gone and now I have it back.”

We now take for granted rules analysts working on sports television and streaming, but Pereira was a genuine game-changer when Fox created the role for him in 2010. Viewers had longed for broadcasters to provide accurate explanations from the NFL’s Byzantine rule book, and Pereira took the burden off the announcers. Joe Buck once told me he considered Pereira the best hire in Fox Sports history. Pereira said he could have never seen his hiring in 2010 as a precursor for the many rules analysts we now see on television across sports.

“It’s wonderment because I never in my mind saw this job coming,” Pereira said. “I never thought when it was my time to retire from the NFL, I would have something like this available. I’m not only proud of the fact of what it has meant to us as former football officials and the role of trying to educate the fans, but I also take pride in the fact that I watch a soccer game, there’s a rules analyst. Same with the NBA. I now see networks with golf rules analysts. Fox started it, but at least I was decent enough at it that everybody felt it was a good idea. I take pride in that. I really do.”

Talking to Pereira these days, it’s hard not to come away with some perspective on mortality. He said he feels like a new person and has such little pain that he no longer has to take Tylenol or any kind of pain reliever. There was even an unexpected result from the surgery: He measures 2 inches taller in height.

“There are things I can’t do, but I’m living my absolute best life at home and at work,” Pereira said. “Some people might say that, but because of the appreciation of where I’ve been, I really believe I’m living my best life today.”

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

(Top photo of Mike Pereira on the field before last week’s Baltimore Ravens-Dallas Cowboys game: Sam Hodde / Getty Images)

Virginia Tech thought they upset No. 7 Miami on the road, but victory was, almost quite literally, snatched from their hands.

With three seconds left and down four points, Hokies quarterback Kyron Drones aired it out to the back of the end zone toward a swarm of both Hokies and Hurricanes. 

With the naked eye, it was tough to tell who initially came down with the ball, as seven players leaped for it. 

After some jostling, a Miami defensive back ran away with the pigskin, and celebrations began.

However, the ruling on the field was actually a touchdown caught by Da’Quan Felton.

But, there was a lengthy review, and officials reversed the call, giving the Hurricanes a 38-34 victory and putting the Hokies in absolute disbelief.

“It came down to half an inch,” Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal said to the ESPN broadcast following the game, admitting his team played “sloppy.”

Virginia Tech got on the board first with a touchdown on their first drive, but the Hurricanes answered by finding the end zone on back-to-back drives themselves. However, the Hokies scored 20 unanswered points to take a 27-17 lead early in the third quarter.

Elijah Arroyo #8 of the Miami Hurricanes celebrates with teammate Cam McCormick #84 after scoring a touchdown against the Virginia Tech Hokies during the first quarter of the game at Hard Rock Stadium on September 27, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Florida.  (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

HURRICANE HELENE FORCES BRONCOS TO PRACTICE ON INDOOR TENNIS COURTS IN WEST VIRGINIA RESORT

Miami scored a touchdown to cut their deficit to three late in the quarter, but Virginia Tech found the end zone again to go back up 10. On the Canes’ next drive, they again made it a three-point game, and then, they forced a three-and-out. 

The Canes marched down the field and capitalized the drive with a touchdown to take the lead with two minutes left. Virginia Tech, clearly, had more than enough time, but the review was not on their side.

Miami’s Cam Ward completed 24 of his 38 passes for 343 yards and four touchdowns, with 10 different Hurricanes making at least one reception.

Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward (1) makes a pass attempt during the game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Miami Hurricanes on Friday, September 27, 2204, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.  (Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Hokies running back Bhayshul Tuten ran for 141 yards on his 19 carries, one of which was a score.

Miami, now 5-0, will visit Cal next week, while Virginia Tech, 2-3, will also fly out west for a date with Stanford.

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The Lakers have hired Dr. Vanessa Brooks as their head athletic trainer, people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly on the matter told The Times. The position on the Lakers’ medical staff had been open after Roger Sancho left the organization to take a job with the Phoenix Suns.

Brooks worked with the Oklahoma City Thunder since 2019. She was the first Black woman to be dual certified as an athletic trainer and physical therapist.

She’s the latest hire in a restructuring of the Lakers’ medical staff this offseason, with Brooks working under Dr. Leroy Sims, who the team hired as its director of player performance.

According to Brooks’ LinkedIn profile, she’s one of two certified trainers on the NBA’s Emergency Preparedness Committee, which crafts the cardiac, neck and spine emergency protocols for the league.

The Lakers will hold media day on Monday before opening training camp on Tuesday.

She’s expected to be with the team at the start of training camp.