(By Charles Chandler, Charlotte Observer)
May 9, 2000

PANTHERS’ BEUERLEIN TO TESTIFY ABOUT LOU GEHRIG DISEASE
AT U.S. SENATE HEARING

Carolina Panthers quarterback STEVE BEUERLEIN is headed to Washington next week, and it has nothing to do with playing the Redskins.

Beuerlein has accepted an invitation to testify at a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on May 18 to raise awareness about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig’s disease.

A close friend and former high school teammate of Beuerlein’s, Jeff Sherer, has ALS, a disorder of the nervous system that is usually fatal within two-to-five years of diagnosis.

Beuerlein was invited to speak at the hearing by the ALS Association and the office of Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA).

Specter is the chairman of the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee which controls federal research funding and is hosting the first-ever hearing on ALS.

ALSA Vice President of Marketing Carol Levey said Beuerlein was invited to testify after members of Congress read a Charlotte Observer article on his relationship with Sherer.

Steve Gibson, the ALSA’s vice president of government relations, said it is essential to have a celebrity advocate when trying to build support in Congress.

"What we’re hoping for is that by Steve describing the horrors that his friend and other people with ALS go through, it will persuade (the appropriations subcommittee) to make it a top priority when they determine the budget for this coming year," said Gibson.

Beuerlein will be given approximately five minutes to speak to the subcommittee, then will participate in a press conference before having lunch with Specter, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin and other members of Congress.

Beuerlein said the invitation underlines his long-held position that public figures can have a positive impact on society.

"You see Congress on the news all the time, and the whole aura about being in that room, or being in that type of environment, is fairly intimidating," Beuerlein said.

"There are very few times in your life when you really have a chance, an individual chance, to do one thing that can make a big difference, and really have a significant impact," he continued. "This might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me.

"It’s an example of the opportunity we have as professional athletes. There are a lot of people out there who are going through these issues and having to deal with these things. As a professional athlete, people tend to pay a little more attention to you.