Former San Diego Chargers quarterback Ryan Leaf posted an exciting video on Monday, in which he said the NFL “doesn’t care” about the players’ mental health.
Leaf, 44, posted the video on Twitter after former Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers former receiver Vincent Jackson, 38, was found dead earlier this week in a Florida hotel room by a housekeeper.
Authorities said there were no apparent signs of trauma and an investigation was opened by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
The cause of death will be determined by the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office.
‘I don’t know what the hell to do anymore. My NFL brothers keep dying and no one is doing anything about it, ‘said Leaf in the video.
Leaf posted a video on Twitter in which he condemned the NFL for not doing more for the mental health of former players
Leaf condemned the league and said ‘My NFL brothers are still dying and no one is doing shit ** nothing about it’
The NFL posted about Chargers and Buccaneers’ former wide receiver, Vincent Jackson on Monday
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is investigating Jackson’s death after his body was found in a Homewood Suites
Jackson was reported missing by his family and later contacted by police days before he was found dead.
Officials in the Hillsborough County sheriff’s office said his family reported Jackson’s disappearance last Wednesday. Two days later, the police tracked him down to his hotel and spoke to him before canceling the missing persons case.
Jackson was found dead at a Homewood Suites in Tampa’s Brandon suburb, days after his social security check.
Leaf, who has always spoken openly about the mental health and addiction problems faced by former professional athletes, said he spoke to another former NFL player on Monday who spent the weekend “in a psychiatric ward”.
‘The NFL just doesn’t care. They do not care. They’ll write letters of condolence and do things like that, ‘said Leaf.
He said that if the NFL wanted to invest in its former players, it would “put some money” into the NFL Legends Community – a resource that provides professional development and health benefits services to players in transition to life outside the league.
‘Once you are bad for the brand, the shield, they can yield two s ** ts. I don’t know what the hell to do. They don’t understand how precious life is, so I’m to blame for this shitty survivor, ‘said Leaf.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Jackson leaves the field after playing against the Atlanta Falcons on November 17, 2013
Jackson’s family had filed a missing person report, which was canceled after he was found and spoke to the police before his death
Jackson, in the center, is pictured at MacDill Air Force Base on December 11, 2012 in Tampa, Florida
Leaf captioned the video: ‘I don’t know who needs to hear this, or if I just needed to say it, but I’m not going to continue to stand by and watch my brothers disappear because the multi-billion dollar $$ company won’t do the right thing.’
According to a 2018 report by Harvard researchers in the Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, many players reported feelings of depression, anxiety, anger, loneliness and stress during and after their time on the field. ‘
In 2019, the NFL and its players’ union announced that the league would require each team to employ a mental health professional, ESPN reported. The league also said it would create a mental health and wellness committee and a joint pain management committee.
The committees created by the 2019 initiative would develop educational programs on mental health for players, including collaboration with ‘local and national mental health and suicide prevention organizations to reduce mental health-related stigma and promote suicide prevention and awareness’.
Before the 2020 season, the NFL and NFLPA shared educational materials with league clubs to ‘de-stigmatize mental health’, according to a press release.
Dr. Nyaka NiiLampti, vice president of clinical and wellness services at the NFL, said last year: ‘Mental health resources have been around for a long time.’
‘But what this behavioral health initiative did was put it at the forefront [of player care],’ he said.
Leaf has always been an advocate of addiction for NFL players. Earlier this month, he wrote about how his ‘selfishness’ and ‘addiction’ affected everyone around him.
– I’ll make sure my recovery does the same. No need to be ashamed, we all have a story. You cannot keep it unless you give it away. #soberlife #ittakeswhatittakes #igotyourback, ‘Leaf tweeted.
Leaf, which was the second overall choice in the 1998 NFL Draft, now provides college football and NFL analysis for SiriusXM.
His football career was cut short by negative headlines and bad behavior, including exploding against a reporter on camera. He lost his starting position as a defender at the end of his debut season, he was released from the Chargers two years later.
Leaf signed with Tampa Bay in 2001, but was released by the Buccaneers even before the start of the season, and then signed with the Dallas Cowboys, but only appeared in four games before being released again at the end of the season.
Ryan, central, was Chargers’ starting quarterback before being released for his behavior
Former NFL defender Ryan Leaf is seen in a police record photo on April 2, 2012 in Great Falls, Montana
He later developed an addiction to the pain reliever Vicodin, which he told KCBS-TV to be prescribed for him after a series of surgeries, including one to treat a brain tumor.
“I researched ways to kill myself on Google,” said Leaf. – And I used a knife to do the most important thing.
Leaf has been arrested several times since 2009, pleading guilty to theft and possession of drugs in Montana in 2012, for which he served time in a state prison.
Last May, he was arrested for domestic assault in Palm Desert, California, and recently pleaded guilty, ESPN reported.