Nate Jackson: Could we have helped Vincent Jackson?
Feb 25, 2021, 4:06 PM | Updated: 4:43 pm
Vincent Jackson’s story was not supposed to end this way. A 12-year NFL career. A three-time pro-bowler. Loved and respected on the field and off. Dead in a hotel room at the age of 38.
The cause of death is yet to be revealed, but chronic alcoholism was cited by his family. CTE is suspected. His brain has been donated for research. Until that research has concluded, we won’t have all the answers.
But one thing is clear, many players struggle after “retiring.” Sadly, we’ve come to expect it.
The odd thing is that Vincent Jackson didn’t appear to be one of them. On paper, he was thriving.
He owned a business. He was active in the veterans community. He was an honorary sheriff. He had a wife and young daughter. He was the model of “life after football.”
The guy who just “gets it.” The guy who is “going to be just fine.”
But you never really know who is going to be just fine because we all hide the pain, too proud to mention it. That’s what football is: How tough are you?
It works wonders on the field, but what happens when football is over? When there are no more games on your schedule.
Nothing to train for. No moment to explode. Just a long open road ahead of you, and all of your best friends are gone.
You find yourself alone, in pain. You have a familiarity with medication and alcohol, and enough money to disappear to whatever hotel you want, whenever you want, for however long you want. And no one knows you’re there until it’s too late.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of guys are out there right now, teetering over that same cliff. They’re one bad week away from an equal fate.
When I left the NFL, I literally had nothing to do. No schedule. No itinerary. No plan.
I would disappear for chunks of time, staying alone in hotels, pretending everything was fine. Masking the toll of the game. Masking what I was going through.
Never let them know you’re hurting. Fight it down and make the play.
But where is the play to make? It’s not so clear.
We don’t know the full story behind Jackson’s death, but it isn’t too early to understand that something went terribly wrong. So the question is — and its a question we must ask when something like this happens — could we have helped Vincent Jackson?
Was he failed by the system? Or was his death and unavoidable tragedy?
Football players get injured all of the time. Part of rehab, of getting healthy and back on the field, is an open line of communication regarding the injury.
How bad is it hurting? Scale of 1-10.
We ramp up our work load as our pain allows and we get you back to full strength. But only if we face the injury. Only if we face the pain.
The same approach should apply to brain health, mental illness and addiction. NFL players should be taught on the way into the league that the brain is merely another muscle that may get injured and may need rehabilitation. And that there are all sorts of unhappy side effects that can come with an injured brain, and that if you are aware of them, you may be less likely to engage in behavior that would make them worse — like drinking alcohol.
And if you do find yourself under water – scared, alone, addicted – there is no shame in telling someone that you need to come in for treatment. You need some time in the training room to get right, so you can get back on the field of life, and live it to your full potential, after the bright lights fade.
Prayers to Vincent Jackson’s family. Let’s all do our part to make sure this never happens again.
