Originally posted by English:
Originally posted by theduke85:
Originally posted by AB81Rules:
No disrespect but saying Williams quit because of his sisters death is a red flag is a bit harsh IMO.
I don't think it's tasteless to discuss it. His sister died a long time ago. If he really has been battling those demons for a decade, are we really supposed to believe his problems just disappeared during a 30-day break? That sounds like wishful thinking.
Mental illness is a very serious thing. Many people have recurring bouts and highs and lows. If, 10 years after his sisters death, the pain hit him so hard that he walked away from football entirely, who's to say it won't happen again 6 months ,1 year, or 3 years down the line?
I think it's a perfectly valid concern that absolutely should be considered and can be discussed respectfully.
Just to pick up on this point, I believe that these demons that he was battling were going to stay with him until he confronted them. I used to share a flat with a bunch of medical students who were mostly beer swilling, skirt chasing party types. One of them was different, though. He was extremely bright and was training to become a neurosurgeon or neurologist or something of that kind. One night over a couple of beers he gave his opinion that whatever they did for their patients in the hospital, one of the leading hospitals in the country, was a waste of time until the light came on and the patient accepted that he had a problem. Everything after that was a lot easier.
It isn't my specialty, nowhere near it. But until the guy was ready to deal with it, it was going to hang there in the back of his mind making life tough. Once confronted, it's dealt with. There is nothing to come back, nothing to happen again. Imo.
Just to add some personal perspective to this that really dovetails with Williams' story (and sorry for the long personal story, but least in the details it really parallels everything Williams has said):
My dad died when I was 17, and from that point until I was about 25 or so I was really self-destructive and kind of a mess: I was a hair away from (deservedly) getting kicked out of a college a couple times, after I graduated from college I spent a year or two kicking around and showing up drunk to odd-jobs, and was just generally an unpleasant, unhappy, and destructive person to be around.
When I was 25 I really hit rock bottom and everything fell apart. I didn't leave my house for a month and ended up going to therapy for a month or two after that to deal with all the things I wasn't dealing with.
That's all it took. In the 15 years since then not only has none of this stuff recurred, but going through the experience has also made me a harder working, more dedicated and focused, more compassionate, and better person. From that experience, a couple months of therapy eight years after the fact totally changed my life. I'm in an incredibly happy marriage with happy children and I've had more career success than I could have ever imagined.
TL;DR -- (1) Traumatic events early in life can really do damage to a person; (2) those traumatic events can sometimes be cleaned up with a surprisingly small amount of work and self-care well after the fact; (3) rather than fear of recurring people who make it through that turn-around can end up being more dedicated and better people than they would have been without the traumatic event (and late turn-around from it) having happened to them.
EDIT: Of course this doesn't mean that Williams will be any good as a football player at the NFL level, but I think that having been through something like is as likely to INCREASE his chances as it is to decrease his chances. When you're evaluating hundreds of players I understand why you'd treat it as a flag -- he's not totally clean -- but I think anybody who has been through stuff like this and truly made it to the other side with all the wounds repaired see other people's red flag as an undervalued asset.
[ Edited by PopeyeJonesing on May 24, 2017 at 9:41 AM ]