BOULDER, COLO. (AP) -- Colorado star defensive lineman Will Pericak faces two opponents every Saturday: the opposing quarterback and diabetes.
After every other series, he goes to the sideline for finger pricks to test his blood sugars. High-fructose energy drinks are on hand if he needs them.
Pericak was diagnosed at 15 when he was a freshman at Boulder High School, but his older brother was diagnosed much younger, "so I kind of grew up with it throughout my youth, so I kind of knew what it was all about."
Like many diabetics, Pericak, a senior who packs 285 pounds on his 6-foot-4 frame, uses a proper balance of diet, medication and exercise to control his disease, which he has come to view as more a blessing than a curse.
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