Opinion: NFL players like Derrick Henry need protecting the same as Calvin Ridley
It may not seem like the damaged foot of Tennessee running back Derrick Henry and the mental health pause taken by Atlanta receiver Calvin Ridley are part of the same football universe, but in many ways they are. Henry represents a past the NFL should move away from, and Ridley a future the sport should embrace.
The NFL is at an interesting point in its history. For decades, talk about mental health was viewed as weak. Football's engine was powered by brutality, long ruled by the mantra: the sport matters, and the player splatters.
Only recently has some of that changed with teams arming themselves with more mental health professionals, and a slight decline in the emphasis on violence, thanks to a smidge of rules changes. Still, the NFL trailed other sports and athletes when it came to addressing mental health.
"When I was playing, no one really talked about mental health," said Jonathan Martin to the New York Times. "You play through so much as a player, you have this warrior mentality. You have to suffer so much physically, mentally and emotionally to play this game at a high level."
Martin was at the core of a bullying scandal in 2013 which was one of the first major instances where the mental health of NFL players was publicly discussed.
"When I was playing, there were not services readily available within the team," Martin said.
Players also rarely discussed their mental health. That's changed a bit. Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott, who has battled depression and lost his brother to suicide, has spoken about mental health issues. So has Atlanta tight end Hayden Hurst, a suicide survivor and advocate for suicide prevention. There was also the Eagles' Lane Johnson.
Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who was Ridley's head coach in Atlanta, backed his former receiver.
“Mental health issues, it’s hard to read,” Quinn said. “You can see when someone sprains their ankle but you can’t tell oftentimes when someone’s hurting on the inside. So having the courage to speak up and do that for guys like Dak and others who have done that around the league, or tight end Hayden Hurst, and now Cal, I certainly admire them. Because by doing that, it may just point out the one person who needs that kind of help.
“A younger person looking up to (him) like, ‘Hey, if it’s OK for Calvin to speak out and get help, I’m going to go and talk to somebody, too.”
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It's hard to emphasize not just how brave Ridley is, but what he represents, which is a dramatic shift away from football's violent team-only mentality, to one where individuals are allowed to worry about their mental health, particularly in a sport that damages the brain. Most of that damage, experts say, causes chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated trauma to the head.
"I don’t know that I have CTE, but I have my suspicions," Martin said. "I do know that I have traumatic brain injury. I think more guys than people realize will admit in private to dealing with some of the symptoms of CTE, but few will acknowledge it publicly, partly from the stigma and partly just because they don’t want to deal with the attention. But most guys when you’re playing, you’re kind of aware this is not very good for you. It’s probably not good for your brain."
Ridley's bravery is valuable and needed yet it's in conflict with how large swaths of the sport is still played.
This is where Henry comes in.
Mental health issues are being taken more seriously but there’s still hardcore, old school football mentalities it will have to overcome. Like the way the Titans’ staff has committed what nearly amounts to coaching malpractice with how they’ve used and overused Henry, and how the NFL is stuck in this frightening conundrum.
The league has already added a 17th game to the season, and don't be surprised if it pushes for an 18th in the future. Each game increases the violence to the brain, and perhaps increases the need for players to pay close attention to their mental health.
We've celebrated Henry's toughness and the fact he plays football like an android, hit and battered, play after play, game after game. If you watch Henry, and you have a beating heart, you can't help but wonder what this sport is doing to him.
Henry's 219 carries to start the year were the most by a player in the first eight games of a season in NFL history, according to ESPN Stats & Info. This comes after last season when he had a career-high 378 carries.
Before the injury, according to ESPN, Henry had 219 of the team's 230 rushing attempts this season.
That is, well, obscene. Instead of celebrating that and sticking him in our fantasy lineups, why aren't we shaking our heads, why aren't we outraged over the unnecessary carries he gets?
Why isn't the Titans coaching staff better protecting him?
When the Titans blew out Kansas City on Oct. 24 the team was leading 27-3 (which would end up being the final score) with about eight minutes left. Of the Titans' final six plays, Henry carried the ball on four of them.
What exactly is the point of that?
People will say it's football. They will say the game is violent. They will say 'I don't hear Henry complaining.'
The coaches should protect Henry and not take advantage of the fact Henry has an old-school mentality.
If there's one thing the brave act by Ridley demonstrates is that even the NFL, which has been one of the slowest of all professional sports to recognize the importance of mental health, can change. Players can look out for themselves.
That includes Henry.