Towson baseball player with diabetes lands NIL deal with hopes of inspiring others

BALTIMORE -- Bryce Frederick, a Division I baseball player at Towson University, battles with diabetes.

It's vitally important for the sophomore infielder to continuously monitor his glucose.

Now, there is a name, image and likeness program designed for players like Frederick, who have diabetes.

Dexcom – the global leader in real-time continuous glucose monitoring for people with diabetes – launched Dexcom U.

It's the first-ever NIL program that celebrates college athletes with diabetes. 

Frederick is one of 14 student-athletes across the country to be a part of this program, which shows younger athletes battling diabetes that it is possible to achieve your dreams despite a diagnosis. 

"It's almost, when you look at it in a baseball analogy, you really go pitch to pitch or at bat to at bat," Frederick said. "You can't get caught up in things that have happened or things that are happening."  

So, it makes sense that back in 2015, before Frederick's freshman year of high school, he made an eight-year plan.

He wrote down things he wanted to achieve on the baseball field

 "Start for varsity for all four years," he said.

And off the baseball field, he wanted to be the best person he could.

"Take nothing for granted, even though it is easier said than done," Frederick said.

However, as we all know, sometimes things happen that you just can't plan for. 

In 2018, Frederick was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

It can be managed, but there is no cure.

"It changed my whole life," Frederick said. "But I've never really sat and reflected on misfortune. It's been opportunity, I think."

Frederick now has a NIL deal with Dexcom, which develops continuous glucose monitoring systems for diabetes management. 

He posts about Dexcom's products on social media in exchange for free products, including sensors that help him on the baseball field for Towson university. 

"This is a Dexcom g-6 sensor," Frederick said. "Pull these stickers off, snap that little orange piece off right there, and just put it in."

Frederick's diagnosis presented others with opportunities - the chance to connect with a community of people who are going through the same thing. 

"There's a certain amount of people that don't feel like playing sports anymore or doing what they typically do after a diagnosis," Frederick said. "To find ways to make it possible for those people is super important. People just want to know that other people are in this together."

Battling diabetes wasn't in Frederick's plan. But he hasn't let that diagnosis alter any of those goals he wrote down in 2015.

He's just taking life one pitch at a time.  

Ravens tight end Mark Andrews shared on social media he is an athlete that battles diabetes.