Sad lesson in Denver Player's Tragic Death: Despite resources, Players Reluctant to Seek Help (200 hits)
...In the case of Kenny McKinley, whose funeral was in suburban Atlanta on Monday, authorities believe he shot himself in the head because he was depressed after his second straight season-ending knee surgery. McKinley was great with a football, but a reluctance common to players may have cost him.
In today’s NFL, ample services are offered to help players cope with their issues – financial, family or otherwise. The league provides those under the umbrella of its player development program. It includes free counseling sessions and trained staff people who are around every team on a regular or semi-regular basis. The NFL Players Association hands out cards with the number of a helpline. There are life skills classes, both mandatory and voluntary, taught on a regular basis.
Yet the league is littered with tragic stories, including All-Pros like Robbins and unknowns such as McKinley. There were former first-round picks such as Alonzo Spellman and Dimitrius Underwood, who have struggled severely with bipolar disorder. Former quarterback Art Schlichter was addicted to gambling.
Some, such as Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams(notes) and former Pro Bowl punter Greg Montgomery, get help and eventually find a solution. Many more succumb to the intense pressure that exists in the NFL.
“For me, it wasn’t hard to seek help, but I think the hardest part is it’s difficult to be introspective in this sport,” said Williams, who has openly discussed his bouts with anxiety and depression. “This environment isn’t conducive to that. There are all these external factors coming at you and you think that’s what’s affecting you. … I had a chance to really sit down and say, ‘It’s not external, it’s me. There’s something I need to fix.’
“The nature of the job is inhumane. It’s the most stressful job I can think of. There are jobs that are more dangerous, but the pressure to perform every day is intense, so it’s easy to project that the pressure comes from outside and that the problem isn’t you. Imagine that you’re at work every day and someone is following you around with a camera the whole time and then you watch yourself as other people critique what you’re doing.”
Or, in McKinley’s case, the pressure that goes with not performing. In two seasons after being a fifth-round draft pick in 2009, McKinley had scarcely played because of knee injuries. On Saturday, the Broncos held a service for him and McKinley’s father recalled how his son, when he was just five, had once made a business card out of an index card that read, “Kenny McKinley, football player.”
That type of self-imposed pressure may lead to trouble down the line.
“So much of what we try to do is about developing an identity outside of being a football player,” said Williams, who sought counseling during his rookie season with the New Orleans Saints. “If your identity [is] wrapped up in you being a football player and you’re in a sport where so many guys are replaceable, what’s going to happen when you don’t have football?”
Even more, there is a gladiator mentality. To show weakness is antithetical.
“You don’t ever want to show that chink in the armor, that you’re somehow vulnerable,” Bailey said.
Conversely, “I would say that we’re no different than what exists in general society,” said Adolpho Birch, the NFL vice president of player development. “People have a reticence to engaging in mental health therapy.”
After helping Denver teammates and McKinley’s family deal with the immediate issues, Birch said the league eventually will examine the situation in hopes of finding out what else could have been done. Over the past decade, the league has tried to change the perception of counseling. Having counselors around teams regularly was one step the league took so that players would be more comfortable with them.
“You want counselors to get to know players in a friendly way, not just as someone who is around when things are going bad,” Birch said.
