Podcast Summary: The Quarterback and The Con Artist

Podcast: Johnathan Walton Media
Episode: EP 4 – "I'm Paying For It Every Day"
Date: September 24, 2025
Host: Johnathan Walton
Notable Voices: Eric Kramer (former NFL quarterback), Anna Durgan (Eric’s friend), Patrice Cameron (Eric’s aunt), Robert Espinosa (Griffin’s godfather), Tyler Dunn (NFL writer)

Overview

This emotionally charged episode unpacks the devastating losses endured by former NFL quarterback Eric Kramer—beginning with the tragic heroin overdose of his son Griffin and cascading through the complex, painful relationships Kramer had with each of his parents. Through intimate storytelling, candid interviews, and personal reflection, the show explores themes of grief, parental ambition, trauma, and the long shadow of family dysfunction. Ultimately, the episode is a meditation on loss, mental health, survival, and the sometimes perilous cost of unyielding expectations.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Griffin Kramer’s Overdose and Death

• Eric Kramer’s recollection of losing his 18-year-old son to a heroin overdose:
  • Griffin had quit drugs but relapsed when someone else injected him. He immediately overdosed, while the group present made no real attempt to save his life.
  • Instead of calling for help, Griffin was left to “sleep it off” at another teen's house (05:11), only to be discovered dead the next morning.
  • “He was laying on his back and that was and still is to this day, the only dead body I’ve ever seen.” – Eric Kramer (03:36)
  • The tragedy was compounded by the knowledge that there was a window of 9–11 hours when Griffin could have survived if help had been summoned (05:37).
• Four teenagers were charged with involuntary manslaughter; the primary instigator received five years’ probation and 90 days of community service (08:15).

2. The Psychological Spiral Following Griffin’s Death

• Eric’s grief seeded a powerful, worsening depression:
  • “That’s really what sent him into this spiral mentally.” – Tyler Dunn, NFL writer (08:43)
  • Within three years, Eric also lost both parents, describing the period as, “just all my attachments were leaving and there weren’t any coming in the opposite direction.” (09:16)
  • This led to a suicide attempt in 2015, which he miraculously survived (10:45).

3. A Target for Exploitation

• The episode turns chilling as it foreshadows the arrival of a manipulative woman who took advantage of Eric’s vulnerability after his attempt, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from him (11:27).
  • “You’ve got somebody who understands what Eric is going through, seizing upon that to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars.” – Tyler Dunn (11:27)

4. Eric’s Complicated Parental Relationships

With His Father, Carl Kramer

• Carl is portrayed as both deeply loving and deeply flawed—obsessively living through his son’s athletic development:
  • “The way I would describe my dad, he was well-intentioned, very well-intentioned, but he was not equipped for what he set out to do.” – Eric Kramer (14:36)
• Carl orchestrated Eric’s entire sports career—moving Eric between multiple schools to secure athletic opportunities.
  • “I think this was my dad’s progression of how I would get from middle school to high school to college pro. And he kind of had the map all dialed in.” – Eric Kramer (20:42)
• The family often struggled financially; Eric’s mother was the breadwinner, while Carl drifted between jobs (29:08).
• Their relationship further strained when Eric became a successful pro and Carl sought public sympathy as homeless, which created a media scandal (32:04).
• In later life, Eric understood Carl’s own history of abandonment, which reshaped his perspective:
  • “My recollections of my dad, I have to now put that into context.” – Eric Kramer (34:48)
  • “Nobody comes out of the womb, good or bad, they just come out...Is the family you’re coming into set up for you to help get there? And in his case, no.” – Eric Kramer (34:58)

With His Mother

• Eric’s mother is characterized by emotional distance:
  • “So my mom, for me was mostly somebody I feared. I wasn’t really close with her growing up.” – Eric Kramer (35:59)
• He recognizes that she felt trapped in her marriage and parenthood:
  • “I think for my mom, it must have felt for her like a prison sentence...like she made one bad choice and now I’m paying for it every day.” – Eric Kramer (36:25)

5. Parental Ambition, Trauma, and Isolation

• Eric’s upbringing, orchestrated by a father obsessed with his athletic future, led to constant school changes and disrupted relationships, leaving Eric feeling like he never fit in (19:28).
• The paradox of “success”: Despite being guided into the NFL, Eric’s journey was filled with emotional hardship and loneliness.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Grief and Love
  “It’s like reading the last word of a book. It’s not like he’s going to wake up. And one of the things that kept gnawing at me was, you know, did he really know how much I loved him?”
  – Eric Kramer, reflecting on Griffin’s death (04:00)

• On Depression
  “When depression strikes, it’s not like there’s a knock at the door or there’s not a phone call saying, hey, I’m, I’m on my way. It just, sort of, there it is. And it...has you looking through a keyhole and you lose all perspective on what used to be Life.”
  – Eric Kramer (10:19)

• Parental Blind Faith
  “Without his belief in me, I can sit here right now and tell you none of this would have happened without him having literally blind faith.”
  – Eric Kramer (17:42)

• Understanding the Past
  “The unfortunate and the tragic part about my dad’s life was that his own mother left when my dad was right around two years. And so apparently when my dad’s mom left, his dad shipped him off to grow up with my dad’s aunt’s family in Tulsa, Oklahoma.... So not only had he been abandoned by his mom, not only had he been abandoned by his dad, the dad he did grow up with wasn’t a dad. The mom he grew up with wasn’t a mom.”
  – Eric Kramer (33:41/34:17)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Griffin’s Overdose and Aftermath: 02:32 – 08:15
• Eric’s Mental Health Spiral & Loss of Parents: 08:52 – 10:45
• Con Woman Introduction: 11:27 – 11:37
• Eric’s Relationship with Father: 14:36 – 21:55
• Family Financial Struggles: 28:52 – 29:59
• NFL Success and Media Scandal: 31:13 – 33:08
• Insights on Father’s Background: 33:41 – 34:58
• Relationship with Mother: 35:59 – 36:36

Final Thoughts

This episode is a raw, honest exploration of the profound ways trauma, loss, and family dynamics shape lives. Eric Kramer’s journey—from the heights of NFL fame through the depths of personal tragedy and mental illness—is told with compassion and unflinching honesty. The discussion leaves listeners with a deep empathy for lives marked by both extraordinary achievement and heartbreaking loss, echoing the show’s promise to reveal stories of “love, loss and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit.”