- Ezra Mam was suspended for nine NRL matches
- Followed incident with an Uber driver last year
- Footy star says he’s got to deal with that every day
Brisbane superstar Ezra Mam has opened up about his infamous drug-fueled car crash, hitting rock bottom and his journey back to the NRL.
Broncos five-eighth Mam, 22, made headlines in October 2024 when his ute collided with an Uber, that led to serious consequences for the player, both professionally and legally.
Mam, driving with cocaine in his system and without a licence, had a head-on collision, injuring the driver, a female passenger and her young daughter.
He was fined $850 and disqualified from driving for six months. Mam was also suspended by the NRL until round 10 this season and fined $120,000 jointly by the NRL and Brisbane.
‘I’m learning how to deal with that remorse,’ Mam told News Corp.
‘I caused an accident. The thought of my actions and potentially hurting anybody or impacting somebody’s life … I’ve got to deal with that every day of my life.
Ezra Mam was a controversial selection for the Queensland State of Origin squad for game two in Perth after recently serving a nine-match ban in the NRL
Mam, driving with cocaine in his system and without a licence, had a head-on collision, injuring the driver, a female passenger and her young daughter
‘I have extreme regrets.
‘I regret the whole thing. Firstly, I regret that I didn’t just stop in the first place. I wish I didn’t drive unlicensed, it was a stupid thing to do.
‘The biggest lesson learned is that my actions can have repercussions, not just to myself, but more importantly on others.
‘It’s something I think of every day. I genuinely do feel for what I did and I’m trying to handle it in a good way.
‘I need to hold myself to a higher standard. I genuinely do feel for what I did and now I’ve just got to let my actions do the speaking.’
Mam, who is now back playing, spent time in a Brisbane rehab facility after the incident and is now working hard on dealing with his emotions better.
He says he wasn’t a regular drug user.
‘No, definitely not,’ he said.
Mam says he has ‘extreme regrets’ about the incident and thinks about it every day
NRL star spent time in a Brisbane rehab facility after the incident
‘This was definitely an isolated incident.
‘For me, and for anyone in general (who goes to rehab), you get different things out of it.
‘For me, it wasn’t for drugs or alcohol, but I needed to learn how to deal with things better emotionally.
‘I learnt that I need to learn to talk to people more and express myself to them.
‘If I wasn’t emotionally handling things well, then I need to be able to learn to speak up and reach out to people for support.
‘I’m still learning about myself now and different ways I can deal with different things.’
Mam, who will take the field in Sunday’s match against Cronulla Sharks at Suncorp, says he is now working on being a better person and winning a premiership for the Broncos.
