Mike McCready of Pearl Jam Holds Flag Football Tournament to Support Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation

Anyone might know him as the lead guitarist of Pearl Jam, a 90s grunge rock band that started in Seattle, Washington. A Seattle native himself, Mike McCready spent the early 90s jamming out with his buddies and winning the hearts of millions of Americans with their musical talents as they created music to be remembered for decades to come.

McCready's story goes back farther than just Pearl Jam. Though he was better known for his role in the popular 90s band, he had been playing guitar for years prior to that. Many people don’t know that McCready is also an advocate for inflammatory bowel disease, having lived with the condition for decades.

McCready's first symptoms

Over 30 years ago while living in Los Angeles, McCready was trying to secure a record deal with his previous band, Shadow. At that time, he suddenly experienced his first symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease. He began to feel a lot of pain with his bowels, followed by blood and mucus in his stool. McCready had no idea what had struck him.

At first, he tried to ignore the symptoms. He was a busy man after all, with plenty of other woes and struggles to worry about, trying to make it in the music business. Rather than thinking something was seriously wrong, he often brushed off the pain and blamed it on something that he ate.

McCready was finally diagnosed with Crohn's disease

But the pain persisted. When things were clearly not getting better, McCready finally raised the white flag and went to his doctor. There, he was shocked to finally get some answers - he was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. At the time, McCready had no idea what the disease was. He had never really heard about it and didn't know anyone else who had it. The news came as a shock and he didn't know what to do, or who to turn to.

At first, McCready had a hard time sharing his experience battling Crohn's disease. Not only was the disease new and unknown to him, but it was also hard for him to open up about it as well. Not only is the disease painful, but it can cause some embarrassing symptoms too. It wasn't until 15 years ago that McCready finally started to talk about his disease. It was actually his wife that encouraged him to find some support from the community. She saw that he was miserable and embarrassed from all the pain, so they sought out an organization for help.

McCready was inspired by support

McCready was inspired by both his wife and Rolf Benirschke. Benirschke is a former San Diego Chargers Pro Bowl and All-Pro kicker living with ulcerative colitis. Talking with both his wife and Benirschke, McCready realized that they had a powerful public platform to support the Crohn's and colitis community. He wanted to do something good for inflammatory bowel disease sufferers.

Then, McCready came across the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. He started working with this organization and, through his fame, worked to improve awareness for inflammatory bowel disease.

Photo credit: Mike McCready - Pearl Jam by Rusty Sheriff (flickr)