Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett is opening up about his mental health struggles. In a series of tweets, he shared some of the issues he has dealt with over the years that almost drove him away from football.
“2 years out of my 7 years in the NFL so far I played with depression and anxiety and almost quit and had my best year ever,” he wrote Wednesday. “I played through trauma another year and had my best year. Moral of the story: keep going. You never know what awaits you on the other side!”
Lockett, a three-time 1,000-yard receiver, said he tried to fix it, like it was an injury, but it didn’t help. He realized that it was a process that would take time.
“It’s easy to operate in life when you live through your strengths,” Lockett, 29, wrote. “But these last two years I had to live and rely on my weaknesses to get ahead. I have been more patient with myself than ever. I had to learn that my way of thinking was not the only way.”
Perhaps part of the reason Lockett opened up was that Seattle launched a mental health issues program that was started with the intention of fostering conversations about mental health.
“The more we raise awareness and the more people talk about it, it lets non-athletes know that, regardless of where you are in whatever aspect of life you’re going to be dealing with. something,” Lockett said. “Now the next step for us is to be able to try to allow safe spaces to happen.”
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