Sideline Chatter: Our Heroes Are Human Too

Mental health concerns among professional athletes deserves more attention now than ever

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 800,000 people die from suicide every year. That means that, roughly every 40 seconds, someone’s mental distress becomes so severe that they take their own life.

Just last month, Dallas Cowboys’ star quarterback, Dak Prescott, revealed in an interview that he battled with depression at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic—and finally sought help after his brother Jace committed suicide on April 23. Prescott admitted that he had been dealing with depression since his mother’s death from colon cancer back in 2013. 

If you watched football two weeks ago, you likely saw Prescott’s season shatter in a matter of seconds. His face was in tears after a gruesome ankle injury, but he still held his fist in the air as he left the field on a stretcher.

Until that injury, he was on pace for a record-breaking season with a huge contract extension on the horizon. Now he’s done for the year, and his future is in question.

“All throughout this quarantine and this offseason, I started experiencing emotions I've never felt before,” Prescott admitted even before the injury. “Anxiety for the main one. Honestly, a couple of days before my brother passed, I would say I started experiencing depression—I didn't want to work out anymore.”

In sports, especially one as entrenched in masculinity as football, there’s a pervasive reluctance to speak up about mental health struggles. Research shows that men who buy into traditional forms of masculinity are less likely to seek help when it comes to their mental health than men who have more flexible approaches to their gender. Athletes are taught to be tough, show resilience, act unfazed, win at all costs—to hold that fist in the air. To do anything else is a sign of weakness.

Many people think Prescott's admission about his depression was incredibly courageous. His words show us just how much of a leader he is off the field as he is on it.

Not everyone agreed. Fox Sports commentator Skip Bayless argued that Precott’s public acknowledgement was the very antithesis of leadership. He called it a sign of “weakness” that could impact Presott’s ability to make teammates believe in him.

“I have deep compassion for clinical depression,” said Bayless. “But when it comes to the quarterback of a National Football League (NFL) team. . .it’s the ultimate leadership position in sports. You are commanding an entire franchise. . .You're commanding a lot of young men and some older men. And they're all looking to you to be their CEO, to be in charge of the football team. Because of all that, I don’t have sympathy for him going public with ‘I got depressed.’”

Bayless doubled down on his comments, adding, “You can't go public with that, even though you say this could help a lot of people out there who are truly suffering from a clinically diagnosed depression.” 

Unfortunately, these insensitive comments aren’t isolated. Just before Prescott’s interview, Los Angeles Clippers’ forward Paul George announced his hardships with anxiety and depression while playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA) bubble. Former NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley denounced George, saying that his experiences are insignificant compared to other anxieties Americans grapple with every day. 

“We are the luckiest people in the world to dribble a stupid basketball and make millions of dollars,” Barkley said. “We’re never in a dark place. I just think we need to be careful what we complain about.”

Another former NBA player Raja Bell also weighed in on George’s experience.

“Keep that sh*t to yourself bro,” he said. “Nobody wants to hear that.”

Countless other athletes across the sports world responded in support of both Prescott and George. Some said the honesty of the two men encouraged them to be vulnerable about their own hardships. The hashtag #SkipSkipBayless was trending on Twitter after athletes, coaches and fans publicly condemned Bayless’s ignorance. 

Professional leagues, including the NBA and NFL, now have initiatives in place to fight mental-health related stigmas within their own communities. The modern athlete is now more willing than ever to bear their souls and express their humanity. 
But the fact that such highly regarded athletes within their respective sports still face this much backlash from simply talking about their emotions shows that we have a long way to go. And professional sports need to understand that fans do want to hear about the challenges faced by our heroes. We want to hear about all the highs and lows of an athlete’s life. We relate to facing struggles and overcoming adversity—because we’re all human.