The Giant Beneath the AddictionThe Giant Beneath the Addiction
Chase The Vase
Las Vegas mortgage advisor Jeff Drogovich shares his candid journey from opioid and heroin addiction to family-focused sobriety, stressing surrender, support and hard work. The conversation highlights how the drive that once sustained his addiction now fuels his recovery, career and role as a father.
42:29•28 Sept 2026
The Giant Beneath the Addiction: Jeff Drogovich on Opioids, Family and Surrender
Episode Overview
- Addiction often starts subtly; Jeff’s opioid use escalated from casual Vicodin to heavy Norco doses and eventually heroin delivered to his door.
- A powerful “mirror moment” made him see he was addicted, but lasting change only began when his wife left and he truly faced losing his family.
- Jeff found that getting sober was easier than living sober; long-term recovery required accepting opioids as a non-negotiable no and learning to live on life’s terms.
- Surrendering to the recovery process, taking guidance from others, and regularly attending NA meetings were key parts of his blueprint for change.
- Channelled well, the drive that once fed his addiction now fuels his business and fatherhood, but he stays alert to replacing drug addiction with workaholism or success-chasing.
“I would much rather take your phone call at 2am than have to go to your funeral.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This Fight Like David episode, hosted by retired undercover cop Brock Bevell, zooms in on the "giant beneath the addiction" through the story of Las Vegas mortgage advisor Jeff Drogovich. On the surface, Jeff is the "Vegas Mortgage Dude" who’s helped thousands of families into homes. But here, he talks about the years when his real full-time job was staying high.
He shares how opioids started as a “warm blanket, the little hug” and spiralled into taking “five or six Norcos at a time… just to get rolling in the morning,” then into heroin delivered to his house like take-away. You’ll hear about the mirror moment where he looked at his yellow, bloated reflection and thought, “yo, like you’re addicted to this stuff,” yet still kept using.
He opens up about stealing from grandparents, embezzling “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” and the day his wife finally left with the kids, forcing him to confront the fact he might lose his family and his life. The chat isn’t just about getting clean; it’s about learning to live sober.
Jeff explains why staying sober was harder than detox, how NA meetings like “brunch for lunch” kept him going, and why the word that changed everything was “surrender.” He breaks down what “doing the work” actually means, from taking guidance he didn’t trust yet, to cold plunges at 5am, to surrounding himself with sober, driven people.
For parents, partners and anyone stuck in the cycle of relapse, his honesty about shame, workaholism as a new addiction, and trying to be a present dad to four kids will hit home. As Jeff puts it, if you’re willing to do the work, “all of your dreams can come true.” So what would surrender look like for you today?
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