COWBOYS
Former Dallas Cowboys player speaks about importance of mental health
Former Cowboys DE Charles Haley won five Super Bowls in his career, but it came at a cost to his mental health, which he is now an advocate for.
Mental health is becoming a much less taboo topic in the world of professional sports than it used to be back in the 1990s. Still, we have a long way to go - especially for men in sports, and let’s be honest, mental health for men in general.
Former Dallas Cowboys defensive end and Hall of Famer Charles Haley is working on opening up that conversation, normalizing seeking help, and being a voice for those suffering from mental health issues.
Charles Haley’s personal mental health journey led him to be an advocate
Charles Haley is known for his talent on the football field. He was the first NFL player to ever win five Super Bowl rings (1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, and 1996), and behind just Tom Brady, he is still the player with the second-most to this day. He won his first two with the San Francisco 49ers, his second two with the Cowboys, and the last one with the Niners again.
But while he was one of the best defenders in the game, he spent all those years struggling with mental health issues including anger, depression, and extreme mood swings. At one point, Haley even tried to take his own life. It wasn’t until years later (in 2002) that he was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. During most of his life, Haley said that people would criticize his behavior, but not offer solutions.
“They wanted me to calm down, but they didn’t say ‘go get treatment,’ they didn’t say ‘go get this medicine,’” Haley said in an interview last year. “They wanted that behavior, so when I displayed it, it was normal.”
Fortunately, Haley’s attempted suicide was unsuccessful. His goal now is to help young people not only identify the signs of mental health issues, but seek help before it gets as far as it did for him. He is an advocate, and on Thursday, he spoke to a group of middle and high school students at the Athens ISD’s Empowering the Youth of Tomorrow event.
“I’ll give it away to kids, adults, anyone that needs it because the pain that I went through, I don’t want anyone else to have to go through,” Haley said.
Haley is doing his best to make sure that no athlete, no child, no person has to go through this experience alone. He is currently a special advisor who mentors rookies for the Cowboys and 49ers and has funded several local initiatives including The Salvation Army and Jubilee Centre. He is the founder of Tackle Tomorrow, providing schools in the Dallas area with reading programs and teachers to help students improve their reading skills.