Seeing is Believing: Freddie Maggard Experiences Color for the First Time

There’s a lot we take for granted, big and small. It’s in the cup of coffee we have in the morning. It’s in the radio show we listen to on our commute to work. It’s in the conversations we have with strangers. Small details that take place in the mundane parts of our days are often overlooked. 

A lot of these details are second nature to most, but nonexistent to others. Maybe it’s the ability to walk. Or the ability to talk to others. Or the ability to see color. 

You know Freddie Maggard. Former UK quarterback, veteran, writer, father, and the list goes on. Freddie has struggled with color blindness for his entire life. 

It’s difficult to imagine how the world is perceived by someone who is color blind and vice versa. How do you explain what a color looks like? In turn, how do you explain the lack of color that you see? It is what it is. You see what you see and don’t what you don’t. 

“Without using an adjective, describe the color blue,” Freddie told me. “Impossible right? That’s how I can or can’t portray what I see.” 

Color blindness is when an individual is unable to distinguish certain colors, or rarely, any colors at all. There are different types of the disorder. Protanopia is the inability to perceive any “red” light. Those with deuteranopia have difficulty perceiving “green” light. Tritanopia prohibits those with the condition to perceive “blue” light properly. All types of the disorder make colors appear less bright, clear, and distinct. Color blindness manifests in different ways and affects individuals differently. It’s a spectrum.  

Growing Up Color Blind

Being color-blind as a quarterback is not ideal by any means. But, Freddie adapted and excelled in his sport. He knew his routes, he knew his guys, and could distinguish his own jerseys from the others. Football rules usually require one team to wear white or lighter colors while the other wears darker colors. This is usually dependent on home and away games. 

Growing up, jersey distinction was an issue in his football career only once. In high school, a rival team implemented a deceptive game plan, which was to wear dark-colored jerseys at Freddie’s house in hopes of confusing the QB1. Motivation fueled by revenge manifested in Freddie’s team and needless to say, the game was won by a long shot. 

After arriving at the University of Kentucky, Freddie also needed assistance putting outfits together for home and away games. His mother would graciously label matching socks, ties, shirts, and so on. His teammates took note and devised a plan of their own. 

What good is a friend if they don’t pull some harmless pranks on you? Jerry Bell and Joey Couch teamed up to rearrange Freddie’s outfits to make them as mismatched as possible. This evolved into a locker room joke that Freddie grew to enjoy. The laughter and camaraderie were worth the sacrifice of style. 

Freddie was impartial to his color blindness; it was what it was. It’s how he saw the world. It didn’t greatly affect his game, nor his military career in the years following. For most of his life, Freddie was told to adapt and persevere despite it. That’s what he did. 

He was able to understand grass is green, the sky is blue, those godforsaken Cardinals an hour west wore red, and so on. Even if he couldn’t see it for himself, he was able to perceive color through what he was taught. 

Freddie never took much interest in potentially seeing color throughout his life. He’d heard about color-correcting glasses for those who are color blind but didn’t see it as a necessity. He’d made it this far, right? It wasn’t until recently that he decided seeing color is a top priority, the number one item on his bucket list. 

A New World

Life changes. It’s in a constant state of evolving and adapting and beginning and ending. Chapters close and doors open. Freddie has undergone some huge life changes within the past few months. It is his story to tell, which he so eloquently did in a long feature describing his experiences with mental health in late November. Read his story here.

His story has profoundly impacted the KSR family and people across the state and nation. His bravery and vulnerability is something that touched everyone. 

Freddie went on the show and discussed this with Matt, Drew, and Ryan a couple of days later, mentioning that seeing color is now one of his top priorities. This is where Dr. Jeff Klosterman comes in. 

The Boyle County resident founded MEYEND (pronounced “mind”) Vision + Performance in 2014, where he serves as a consultant to athletes and staff of collegiate and pro sports organizations on technologies and techniques to push the boundaries of vision, brain, and athletic performance. Dr. Klosterman sees patients on a limited basis out of Central Kentucky Eyecare, which is where the magic in this story happened. 

Dr. Klosterman was greatly moved by Freddie’s story and knew that he could help facilitate this dream of his. He reached out to Ryan, whom he knew personally, and got connected with Freddie. From there, the appointment was scheduled for the EnChroma consultation. 

December 20, 2023 was life changing. I’m unsure that words can articulate the emotion and gratitude and speechlessness that was felt in that room, so we filmed it. 

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The first thing Freddie wanted to do was see his daughters, who were the biggest reason he decided to get color-corrective glasses in the first place. They inspired him to take the opportunity. He and his 13-year-old Ellie shared a warm embrace. He FaceTimed his other daughter, Claire, and looked at her in color. All we could do was sit back and watch in awe. 

Everything was brand new to him. The grass, the sky, the people around him. “A whole new world” is how Freddie described it. To perceive everything in its full color, to see what he’s missed for his life up until this point. Words fail, but being able to see color for the first time was nothing short of revolutionary for Freddie. It was remarkable to witness. 

Freddie has already had a profound impact on my life. In the short year that I’ve known him, he has changed my life forever, and for the better. He’s the reason that I have the opportunity to even attempt to put this miracle into words. I get the feeling he’s had the same kind of impact on everyone he’s encountered. 

Through his story, he’s inspired and touched the lives of hundreds of thousands. He wants you to go for it, now; don’t wait. He wants to inspire others the do the things they’ve always wanted to do. To lead a life of fulfillment and relish in all it has to offer us. Miracles happen every day. This was one of those miracles. 

May this be our reminder to be grateful for what we have, to see the beauty in the mundane, and to cherish those around us. 

Happy Holidays from Freddie, and everyone at KSR.