by Nathan Anderson
In 2017, Jermaine Brown Jr. was on vacation with his family in Cancun when he realized that the vision in his left eye began to deteriorate. Although his family took him to eye clinics, his blurry vision worsened and soon affected his football career.
“Luckily, I played as the quarterback for my high school football team and didn’t have to worry about seeing the ball as much,” Brown said. “That changed, however, when I became a receiver for the UAB football team. It was hard to catch the ball, and my vision kept me from performing how I would have liked.”
Brown’s athletic trainer realized he was having trouble seeing and immediately contacted UAB Eye Care to provide him with a detailed eye exam through BlazerVision.
BlazerVision is a partnership between UAB Athletics, UAB School of Optometry and the Department of Ophthalmology that provides each student-athlete with comprehensive eye care, acute game-time care and state-of-the-art concussion baseline testing.
“Athletic trainers send us everyone who needs a comprehensive eye exam, but they prioritize athletes who they believe have an issue,” said BlazerVision Founder Kathy Weise, OD, MBA, director of Pediatric Optometry Services at UAB Eye Care. “Within 5 minutes of Jermaine’s eye exam, I could tell something was wrong with his eyes. Within about 30, I knew we could help.”
During the eye exam, Weise determined that Brown was legally blind in his left eye as he could not see the “E” on the Snellen eye chart farther than three feet away, registering his vision acuity to 20/2800. Without treatment, the blurry vision in his left eye limited his depth perception and could have created a blind side.
Weise’s examination also revealed that Brown’s left eye had a warped cornea. Soon after, she diagnosed him with keratoconus, a condition where the cornea thins and becomes misshapen.
After consulting her colleagues, contact lens experts at UAB Eye Care prescribed Brown scleral lenses that provided him with clearer vision by acting as a new surface for his cornea. Scleral lenses are custom fit to each patient's eye and are used for patients with misshapen corneas, or for several other conditions that impact someone’s vision or quality of life.
“Jermaine's vision improved dramatically,” Weise said. “With the scleral lens, his vision is almost normal. His side vision is restored when he’s wearing the contact lens, giving him better awareness on the field.”
Brown’s vision was corrected in his freshman year and has helped him have a successful athletic and academic career. Although he graduated in December 2023, Brown broke the record in his senior year for all-purpose offensive yards with over 5,026. He was also recently named the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Offensive Player of the Week and listed on the Week 10 Paul Hornung Award Honor Roll as one of the nation's “most versatile players.”
“I can see clearer and it has allowed me to perform better as an athlete,” Brown said. “I am thankful to everyone at UAB Eye Care, but especially Dr. Weise. She is the best and has always treated me like family.”
Brown plans to join a professional football team after college and credits UAB Eye Care for helping him see better on and off the field.
Weise explained that BlazerVision’s mission has been to help ensure that athletes’ vision is game-ready while also helping them find success in the classroom.
“Through BlazerVision, we often provide the UAB student-athletes with their very first eye exam,” Weise said. “We know that if athletes see better, they play better. So, our goal is to make sure their eyes and visual system are game-ready and to maximize classroom performance.”