5 NFL stars who have been battling with depression ft. Terry Bradshaw

NFL stars are sometimes wealthy and well-known celebrities along with being elite athletes. This will earn them many alternatives for varied completely different ventures all through the course of their lives. Nevertheless, it doesn’t defend them from affected by psychological well being considerations like all different human beings.

Based on the World Well being Group, round 5 % of the grownup inhabitants throughout the whole world suffers from some type of melancholy. That stated, listed here are 5 NFL gamers who’ve been trustworthy about their very own private struggles with melancholy.


#1 – Steve Smith Sr.

Former NFL WR Steve Smith Sr.
Former NFL WR Steve Smith Sr.

Steve Smith Sr. is a legendary NFL extensive receiver who spent nearly all of his enjoying profession with the Carolina Panthers. Following his profession, Smith hung out protecting the league with the NFL Community. That is the place he opened up about his battle with melancholy throughout his enjoying profession.

Smith had this to say in an article he wrote on NFL.com:

“Regardless of all of my achievements, I routinely felt trapped, inferior and alone. This overwhelmed me internally and infrequently left me mentally, bodily and emotionally damaged.”

Smith continued by explaining that he attended remedy for his melancholy in the course of the course of his profession. Nonetheless, it wasn’t till after he retired that he started to really feel reduction from the signs.


#2 – Brian Dawkins

Former Philadelphia Eagles DB Brian Dawkins
Former Philadelphia Eagles DB Brian Dawkins

Brian Dawkins was an NFL security for the Philadelphia Eagles. He spoke about his battle with melancholy throughout his Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame enshrinement speech, claiming it affected him for principally his total profession within the NFL.

Dawkins additionally had this to say about his psychological well being in an interview with NBC Sports activities:

“I simply wished to be in a darkish room on my own with no one. My room, I will not say was a frequent prevalence, nevertheless it was one thing I’d do. My religion again then wasn’t that robust, so I listened to the opposite voice in my head, and that is the place suicidal ideas got here in, after which truly planning out how I’d go about it in such a approach that Connie (his spouse) and my son would get the cash from my insurance coverage coverage.”

Dawkins defined that his extreme melancholy made him suicidal throughout his NFL profession. Nevertheless, he claims his renewed religion in God has helped information him to a a lot better place mentally and emotionally.


#3 – Dak Prescott

Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott
Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott

Dak Prescott made headlines in the course of the 2020-21 NFL season when he opened up about his battle with melancholy. The Dallas Cowboys quarterback claimed life restrictions in the course of the pandemic sophisticated the difficulty, however his brother committing suicide additional intensified his struggles.

Dak Prescott defined why he opened up about psychological well being in a press convention following a Cowboys observe:

“Earlier than I can lead, I’ve to ensure my thoughts is in the correct place to try this and lead individuals to the place they need to be. I believe that it’s essential to be susceptible, to be real and to be clear.”

Prescott has remained open about his battle with melancholy, anxiousness, and his psychological well being standing basically. He has typically talked about it in interviews and press conferences, by no means shying away from the topic.


#4 – Terry Bradshaw

Hall of Fame QB Terry Bradshaw
Corridor of Fame QB Terry Bradshaw

Terry Bradshaw is among the best quarterbacks in NFL historical past. He helped the Pittsburgh Steelers win 4 Tremendous Bowl rings on his approach to the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame. He has additionally labored for FOX as an NFL broadcaster for greater than twenty years.

Bradshaw admitted that he is been coping with medical melancholy since 1999 when he was formally identified. He stated he is carried it with him all through his NFL enjoying profession in addition to his broadcasting profession. He went into depth about his psychological well being within the HBO Particular titled Terry Bradshaw: Going Deep.

He had this to say in an interview with Esquire in regards to the melancholy he talked about in his HBO Particular:

“You spend a lot time coping with the destructive, you are going to get sick, and you are going to get depressed. There are specific issues that occur in my life, sure calls for on my life, sure disappointments in my life from individuals, that ship me over the sting. I suppose it is one thing I can not management.”


Philadelphia Eagles OT Lane Johnson
Philadelphia Eagles OT Lane Johnson

Previous to his skilled profession with the Philadelphia Eagles, Lane Johnson admitted he was identified with an anxiousness dysfunction whereas attending school. He additionally stated his psychological well being continued to turn out to be extra sophisticated as his skilled profession went on, resulting in extreme melancholy.

Johnson had this to say about his situation in an interview with Jay Glazer, who has additionally been open about his personal struggles with psychological well being, on FOX Sports activities:

“It bought so dangerous, I used to be actually beginning to throw up blood. The nerves, have tremors in my fingers. This was one thing I handled for a very long time. There’s medicines that assist with this, however you possibly can’t masks every thing.”

Johnson went on to elucidate that he went untreated for a very long time as a result of he felt ashamed of his situation. He urged anybody coping with melancholy or some other psychological well being considerations to hunt assist instantly.

Edited by nicolaas.ackermann12


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