Chiefs’ Noah Gray managing Type 1 diabetes as he lives out NFL dream

LAS VEGAS -- Super fans of the world's biggest pop star will track every movement of a certain Kansas City Chiefs tight end during Super Bowl LVIII. Another K.C. TE will be tracked in a much different way.

Tucked beneath the beltline on Noah Gray's back, snuggled inside compression shorts under his game pants, will sit a Dexcom continuous glucose monitoring system tracking the tight end's blood sugar throughout the game.

Constant monitoring has been the way of life for Gray since being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 18 years old.

As a freshman at Duke, Gray began losing weight, was pockmarked by extreme acne, and eventually lost his vision. A sky-high 930 blood sugar level sent him to the hospital for four days.

"The doctors were like, 'We don't know how you didn't walk in here in a coma,'" Gray told NFL.com this week as he prepares to play in Super Bowl LVIII. "I think they said that because I was working out so much, it was helping out a little bit, but, you know, I'm drinking Gatorade and all these sugary drinks because I'm so dehydrated that it was throwing me through the roof. And eventually, my body was just like eating itself."

Rarer than Type 2, about 5 to 10 percent of people with diabetes have Type 1, per the CDC. Believed to be caused by an autoimmune disorder, the body attacks itself by mistake, destroying the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. As a result, little to no insulin is produced, leading to high blood sugar levels. Currently, there is no known cure or preventative measure for Type 1 diabetes.

Previously referred to as juvenile diabetes, the disorder can develop at any age. Gray's diagnosis at 18 was considered later in life compared to most.

From there, it's been a game of managing the disease as