Usually, at best, college football Media Days discussion is quality gridiron wonkishness. At worst, typically, it’s a tedious cliche convention in which everybody tells you they’re going to go 12-0, and they do so in buzzwords and corporatespeak.
Rarely do you get a meaningful discourse about topics that transcend football. Of course, most media days don’t have Iowa football player Sean Welsh. Last Wednesday, the senior offensive lineman from Springboro, Ohio penned an emotional, revealing and edifying op-ed about his battle with depression.
It was published on the official Iowa football website.
Here is an excerpt:
So why is it important to share my story with you?
I now know that my depression is genetic and that I will always have a predisposition to it. This isn’t the end of my relationship with depression but so far I’ve learned a lot about my condition.
First off, depression doesn’t discriminate. You can have everything working in your favor – a strong upbringing, a loving family, a promising future – and depression can turn it upside down.
It can make your successes feel unimportant and your problems seem monumental. It made me feel empty, like I had nothing.
But it also galvanized me. It gave me a perspective that I never would have gained without it. Depression also taught me pure, visceral humility and that I need to be honest with myself and others about how I feel. Without the support of my family, Coach Ferentz and his staff, my teammates and my friends – I’m not sure I would’ve gotten off the mat.
Welsh has 35 career starts and has been recognized nationally for his prowess as a player. He also has serious NFL potential. He returns to anchor a Hawkeyes offensive line that won the Joe Moore Award as college football’s best offensive line unit. Moore was actually the high school coach of Iowa football head man Kirk Ferentz. So this was a very special award for both him and his program.
At Big Media Day today, Ferentz discussed Welsh, the heart-felt piece he wrote, and the reaction it got.
“Sean came to me probably a month ago, five weeks ago, somewhere in that ballpark and said he had an interest in doing so. And talked to several people about it outside our program, just to get their vantage point on it,” Ferentz said. “But it was with the attitude of hopefully that we could go ahead and move forward with it without any visible downside.”
“And I think it just speaks volumes about Sean as an individual, what a courageous young man he is. To watch him wage this fight the last couple of years has been more than impressive. And we get to watch guys play football.”
“It’s a tough, competitive game. But to watch a guy deal with an issue like this the way he has, is so important and so impressive and also obviously the support network that he had available to him, everybody was just fantastic.
“So I really commend him for wanting to come forward. And it was all in the spirit of trying to help other people, whether it’s college-aged students, athletes. Certainly depression doesn’t discriminate. Anybody is potentially vulnerable to it.”
“I think him coming forward and handling it the way he did is so commendable and hopefully it helps other people down the road.”
Welsh was one of the three Iowa football players selected to represent the team at B1G Media Day. During his podium session, he took over a dozen questions about his daily struggle with clinical depression, the process of writing his op-ed revealing his diagnosis, the reaction it elicited and much much more.
Most importantly, he talked about how sharing his story is helping others who are stricken with the same affliction. Being healthy and happy is what matters most in life, so when you have an Iowa football player, or more importantly any football player anywhere, opening up on this topic, it’s more worthwhile than any other conversation you’ll have the day.
Audio of the conversation with Welsh is below:
https://soundcloud.com/p-m-banks/sean-welsh
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
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