VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Two former local pro athletes gave their views as panelists Monday night about their experiences of balancing sports and mental health. State Senator Aaron Rouse and Oscar Smith assistant football coach Eli Harold, both former NFL players, expressed their struggles at times during their high school, college and professional days.
13NewsNow morning anchor, Eugene Daniel was the event's moderator. Rouse, who founded his non-profit organization Rouse's House, felt with the attention being paid to mental health and wellness over the last few years, it was critical for former athletes like himself and Harold to share their feelings.
"It's important that we come back home and talk about mental health", he said. "We destigmatize it and we create those safe places and safe spaces for those future student/athletes and students to be able to talk about how they're feeling".
"A lot of people look at pro athletes as these Gods, because I know as a kid, that's what I did", says Harold. "A lot of kids still think that way, but to let them know that you can be vulnerable. To let them know that yes you are human. To let them know that you are more than this flesh."
In Harold's case it was difficult. While he was having great success as a high school All-American football player at Ocean Lakes, then finishing 11th all-time in career sacks at the University of Virginia with 17.5, he was still in emotional pain after not having his father in his life and then losing his mother Sheila Korvette to pancreatic cancer when he was just 16.
"Knowing that I never had that, it became so heavy", Harold expressed.
Rouse, who spent a part of his career in Green Bay with the Packers, added, "It used to be a sign for athletes as a sign of weakness. If you talk about it 'I'm not up to it today'. You have to push through. It's okay to talk about pressures and dealing with the stress and try to manage that stress and pressure. It allows you to and enables you to perform better."
Harold, who spent portions of his five year NFL career with the 49ers, is reaching out and back to current and future student/athletes while giving them a chance to heal emotionally.
"Hopefully I'll be able to plant a seed", he says. "And if it's one, hey it's a job well done."