Now I know depression is a serious matter. I've never been diagnosed with depression. I don't know of anyone personally who has. But I can sure as shit tell you that everyone battles depression at some point or another. Brian Dawkins admitted he struggled with depression his first two years in the league.
I don't really want to make light of the situation, but I do have to admit that it kind of pisses me off to hear this. I just don't get it. How can athletes, specifically top-notch athletes that make millions upon millions of dollars to play a child's game, get depressed? Sure, some of them come from tough upbringings and everyone suffers personal loss, but these men are at the top of food chain. Shouldn't they be happy?
I guess it's not that simple. In fact, I'm sure it's not. Today, we learned even more about Andrews. Bob Brookover detailed some of the things that have happened to Andrews since coming to Philadelphia. He lost a close friend before last season. His brother has done two tours of duty in Afghanistan. He's had a gun pulled on him. He had a son.
That's a lot to deal with for sure, but Shawn's not alone. I've lost people close to me. I know plenty of people who've served our country. Shit, I've even had a gunned pulled on me and gone to jail. These are tough things many, no, most people deal with. Life's hard. But sometimes, no matter if you are depressed or not, you have to just carry on. The football field should be a place Shawn can forget about all his troubles for a while. Admittedly, he's been having a hard time and that's why he's not in camp. Maybe getting there will help.
It sucks that Andrews has never really had a grasp of who he was. Hopefully he can see that he has a job that most people would kill to have, and, oh yeah, he's pretty fucking good at it. Hopefully he can see that, yes, life can be hard sometimes, but he's not alone.
Like I said, I don't know much about the clinically diagnosed version of depression, but I've been down pretty low in my life. It was awful. I guess you can say I was depressed. Only I didn't have millions of dollars to help me get myself back up, and I'm sure I'll never be as good at anything at Andrews is at football. I'm not sure what to make of the whole situation, but I can't fathom that staying away from his profession, from his teammates, will help him.
I'm probably wrong, but I think the culture athletes are surrounded in really doesn't help. Their entire lives, they're built up by people around them, told they're the greatest, and given nothing but success. Then when things go wrong, whether it be in life or on the field, they don't know how to deal with it. Maybe that's what Shawn's going through. Maybe it's more. Hopefully, he can get straightened out, because this whole situation is depressing.
Even the Emo Eagles agree.
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