While the Pro Football Hall of Fame did not allow Junior Seau’s family to deliver a speech on his behalf at Saturday’s ceremony, the topic of mental health issues and football did not go unaddressed. Many of the headlines leading up to the enshrinement ceremony at Canton, Ohio, surrounded Seau’s 2012 suicide and subsequent diagnosis of degenerative brain disease. Seau’s condition, doctors said, was likely due to the tremendous amount of hits he took to the head during a 20-year career in the NFL. Yet, with Seau’s family limited to their time onstage, it was Seau’s fellow 2015 Hall member, Charles Haley, who took on the issue of mental health. Despite struggling throughout a ;career that saw …
While the Pro Football Hall of Fame did not allow Junior Seau’s family to deliver a speech on his behalf at Saturday’s ceremony, the topic of mental health issues and football did not go unaddressed.
Many of the headlines leading up to the enshrinement ceremony at Canton, Ohio, surrounded Seau’s 2012 suicide and subsequent diagnosis of degenerative brain disease. Seau’s condition, doctors said, was likely due to the tremendous amount of hits he took to the head during a 20-year career in the NFL.
Yet, with Seau’s family limited to their time onstage, it was Seau’s fellow 2015 Hall member, Charles Haley, who took on the issue of mental health.
Despite struggling throughout a ;career that saw tensions with players and coaches — a “road of destruction,” ;as Haley called it — it wasn’t until a few years after his 1999 retirement that doctors diagnosed Haley with bipolar disorder.
On Saturday, Haley, a five-time Super Bowl champion, urged those players facing a similar struggle ;to seek help.
[My ex-wife] Karen, in 1988 she diagnosed me with manic depression, and I thought she was just like the group of guys that wanted to always put me in this box. ; So we had problems after that, and I never really listened, nor did I step up to the plate and do something about it. My life spiraled out of control for years, for years, but today, guys, I am getting back into the locker room, to my teammates, and tell them guys the mistakes that I’ve made, and that the only way that you can grow is that you’ve got to ask for help.
I walked into the league a 22-year-old man with a 16-year-old inside of me screaming for help, and I would not ask for it. I would not ask for that help. ; But today, guys, I take my medicine every day, and I try to inspire others to do the same, and that’s because I finally listened and thank you.
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There are obviously many differences to the battles Haley and Seau each endured. However, Haley’s plea and Seau’s absence served to highlight the greater need for NFL players to get help for more than just injuries they sustain on the field. ;
Another inductee on Saturday, Mick Tingelhoff, did not deliver his own speech. The former center for the Minnesota Vikings is ;suffering from dementia and memory loss.
While Seau’s family may have been limited to a brief interview, turning instead to The New York Times to pay their full tribute to Junior, Haley’s speech perhaps became all the more important.
The issue of mental health among NFL players — and any athlete for that matter — is a conversation that cannot continue to be swept under the rug.
Depression is becoming a growing concern ;among current and former NFL players, ESPN reported. The NFL also said more players are utilizing its player engagement program as well. ;
Athletes such as Brandon Marshall, who was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, ;are calling for more awareness.
Hopefully, as more athletes like Haley and Marshall stand up and speak out, the Hall will soon realize it needs to be the platform for players and their families to do so — ceremonial policies aside.
Haley’s full remarks are below, his comments on mental health begin around 3:19:
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
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Original post:
Charles Haley’s Hall Of Fame Speech Was The Moment Needed On Mental Health Issues
