One NFL running back is now being vocal about the incredibly challenging mental issues he has been dealing with. The Kansas City Chiefs will not have one of their running backs to start 2024 and potentially longer.
Kansas City Chiefs Running Back Opens Up About PTSD
The Chiefs’ second-string back Clyde Edwards-Helaire will be out at least for the first four games if not longer. While it was already reported that he would miss time and was placed on the non-football injury list, we now know the reason why he will miss time even though he is completely physically healthy for football.
The back has been dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, and he recently spoke publicly about the things he has been dealing with since 2018 and wanted to bring attention to the mental health conversation, that is not brought up too often in regards to sports and professional athletes specifically.
Last month, the back discussed how he has been dealing with a bunch of brutal adversities since he had an incredibly traumatizing experience back in 2018. He faced a “self-defense situation” where he was forced to shoot a young man in self-defense during a robbery. Recently, he was diagnosed with PTSD and is now on a treatment plan to heal from this awful experience.
He opened up about some of the things he has been dealing with recently, and we can infer that these years have been incredibly challenging in dealing with that experience in 2018:
“Sometimes I’m admitted into the hospital, something like I can’t stop throwing up,” Edwards-Helaire said, (first transcribed by The Big Lead). “The only person who kind of put me in the right direction was Julie Frymyer.”
Julie, who Edwards-Helaire mentioned, is one of the team’s athletic trainers and has apparently been an incredible help for the running back in this dark time. A big shout out to Frymyer, as training the athletes physically is one thing, but to be there for an athlete mentally is something we should all acknowledge.
Kansas City Chiefs Rally Behind Their Running Back
Of course, we all know that each of these professional athletes are human beings just like all the rest of us, but this can get lost when we see these incredible athletes on the biggest screens. They sometimes seem larger than life, and they wouldn’t be dealing with the regular and sometimes brutal struggles that life brings for us all.
It is a reminder that these men who risk their physical bodies every week for the masses’ entertainment are also facing real mental challenges as well to get up in the morning and go to work like the rest of us.
Fans and the Kansas City Chiefs are wrapping their arms around the running back after hearing the painful experience he went through and has been going through in recent months. The team is clearly only focused on his mental health and success, and getting him back on the field is the least of their concerns at the moment.
“Our main focus is on (Edwards-Helaire). Not concerned about football at this point,” a Chiefs insider told Matt Derrick of ChiefsDigest.com.
His mental condition also must not have been helped when he shielded a teenager from gunfire during the shooting that took place at the Super Bowl parade. It is beautiful to see the team wrap their arms around him, and hopefully, with time he can heal.
KC placed RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire on the non-football illness list Monday. He will miss at least the first 4 games of the season, but that's not the main concern for the Chiefs.
"Our main focus is on (Clyde). Not concerned about football at this point."https://t.co/jWEkoCKJcx
— Matt Derrick (@mattderrick) September 2, 2024
From a football perspective, the team will rely heavily on Isiah Pacheo to carry the main load for the team, and they have since signed Samaje Perine to be the backup.
From all of us at Gridiron Heroics, we wish Edwards-Helaire a speedy and comprehensive healing process in dealing with these demons, and we hope to see him smiling on the field as soon as possible.
It’s always important to remember that these incredible athletes are humans.
Related: Kansas City Chiefs Signed Yet Another RB Before Revealing Clyde Edwards-Helaire Will Miss 4 Games
