Talking about mental health struggles helps Bears’ David Montgomery — and he hopes others

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — When David Montgomery Run, run like you got something to prove It’s hard to knock down. He fights for yards. He has carried the Bears offend sometimes.

But what you can’t see is what Montgomery was wearing.

On August 3, during a regularly scheduled media availability after practice, Montgomery provided a glimpse into the mental health struggles he has experienced over the years.

“At the end of the day, we are still human beings.”@MontgomerDavid opens up about the importance of mental health among athletes. pic.twitter.com/xz5IwEJh5g

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 3, 2022

The response was massive, as fans everywhere showed their support for Montgomery, not the racer, the person.

“I got a lot of love from people all over the world,” Montgomery said. the athletic this week. “People were reminded that, like I said, I am a human, and they stepped back and understood that I was a human and appreciated me for that. That felt good too.”

Not long ago, Montgomery probably wouldn’t even have felt comfortable starting. Instead, he helped him and will help others who will listen.

“Being men, especially me being a black man, going out there and expressing myself and expressing where I was in my mind and in my life at the time, it’s hard to do,” he said, “but I didn’t get anything. but I love and appreciate everyone who came out and still supported me for who I am.”

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Montgomery did not shy away from frustration during his rookie season. He ran off angry, and when the production didn’t come, he was disappointed.

But he took it home with him. The 2019 Bears struggled a lot and he became an example of the disappointment of the offense.

And Montgomery, like any 22-year-old professional athlete, couldn’t ignore social media.

“My first year and a half, he probably played the lead because I wasn’t having much success and I didn’t care what other people thought, until I realized it didn’t matter, which took a huge weight off my shoulders. he said. “I didn’t care what anyone had to say about me, good or bad. I just stayed away from it.

“At the end of the day, the people who (were) talking about me can’t do what I do, and I understand that.”

But the bad days piled on top of each other. Unlike Iowa State, where Montgomery could be distracted by class and other scheduled elements of college life, he had more free time.

Eventually, he realized that the bad days “kept happening.”

“It was affecting my family at home, my little girl, just because I was bringing her home,” he said. “I took a stand on myself and said, ‘I need to be better and change for my family.'”

Montgomery describes it as “a difficult time for me mentally” before acknowledging that, at least in a small part, he was depressed. He spoke with his girlfriend, Tatum Causey, and his mother, Roberta Mitchell. They worked out what Montgomery should do next.

He started talking to professionals. He saw the value of therapy. She allowed him to “unpack the heavy load he was already carrying.”

“It’s okay to not be okay, but the part where everything is okay is when you realize you’re not,” Montgomery said. “Sometimes we lie to ourselves when we say we’re okay, sometimes we’re not. Just being able to express yourself and say to yourself, ‘I’m not okay,’ you have to get all those thoughts out of your head.”

Things also began to change with the way Montgomery practiced. His work ethic has always been a staple of his game, but he no longer took the negatives home with him.

“I try not to hold on to things as long as I did,” he said. “I used to hold on to a lot of things that I messed up on the field when I was a rookie. Now I understand that it’s football, you have to throw things away, continue enjoying your day and your life with things that don’t always go your way.”

A few days after his 25th birthday, Montgomery found out he was going to be a dad. When Causey showed her the pregnancy test, she didn’t believe him. It took him a minute to realize, “Oh wow, I’m about to be a father.”

He then accompanied her to her first doctor’s appointment and listened to her heartbeat.

“I’m like, ‘Okay, now it’s real,'” he said. “I was very excited”.

Montgomery mentioned that in late July, the first time he had spoken to the media since receiving the news. He’s in the final year of his rookie deal, and while it’s not something he’s worried about or talking about financially, he knows there’s more at stake.

“It changed my whole perspective on everything,” he said. “I also had to understand, too, I still have a job to do. Now it just enhances what I want to do and what I want to achieve for myself and my team now that I have someone who looks up to me.”

Montgomery rushed for 849 yards and seven touchdowns in 13 games last season. He also had 301 receiving yards. He enters 2022 as one of the most reliable players on the Bears’ offense, one who seems to run the ball frequently.

Every time he gets the ball, he will continue to run as someone who has been through a lot, but now he will run with a new perspective. There is someone else she is applying for now.

“I’m just playing the only way I know how,” he said. “My life is like carved to be what it is, to play the way I play. It’s this way or no way. I can’t not give everything I have. What’s the point of doing it if I’m not?

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hard ending chase allen I was in Montgomery’s recruiting class at Iowa State. He’s now a rookie with the bearswhile Montgomery is one of the veteran leaders.

Like many at Halas Hall, Allen saw and heard what Montgomery said on August 3.

“That’s just David. That’s the David I’ve known for six years,” he said. “I think it was a great opportunity for him to spread that message. It is so true what he says and preaches. We need more guys like David to express that in the sport.”

Montgomery said the players told him how much they appreciated the way he opened up and expressed himself. Some even told him that they are in a similar situation.

“For me,” he said, “it’s being a vessel so I can help them too.”

Among those who were proud of the way Montgomery used his platform was his number one fan, his mother.

“She is proud that I am here in the building and people know her son,” he said. “Every time I get the chance to come up and tell my story, she’s always proud because she was a part of it.”

Montgomery is often calculated and practical in the way he talks about football, and it’s similar in the way he talks about mental health. He understands the importance and seriousness of someone of his stature speaking up. His latest message to anyone who sees, hears and reads what he’s been through reflects that.

“That it’s okay to not be okay,” she said, “but when you’re not, talk about it so you can come up with a plan to help yourself and help everyone around you too.”

(Top photo: Charles LeClaire/USA Today)