T.O. Fiasco Sheds Light on Deeper Issue

I believe Dallas Cowboys star wide receiver Terrell Owens when he says he didn't attempt suicide Tuesday night, instead taking too many pain killers in combination with the numerous supplements he ingests. I believe his stay in the hospital was the result of an adverse reaction and not some attempt on his part to cram as many as 35 pills down his throat.

I also believe this latest chapter in the media circus that is T.O.'s life has shed some light on a subject nobody dares discuss: the issue of suicide and the psychological pressures of the professional athlete.

I took issue with his publicist's comment at the end of Wednesday's press conference in Valley Ranch, when she quipped, "He has 25 million reasons to live." It seems crass, inappropriate, and it sends the wrong message.

That message? All it takes to make a professional athlete happy is money.

That message has certainly been perpetrated, even by Owens himself. His rift with the Philadelphia Eagles last year centered around his desire for a new, richer contract. While I didn't disagree with his notion--coming back early from a broken ankle to play well in the Super Bowl is the closest I'll ever get to calling a football act heroic--he went about it the wrong way, and his reward was a three-year, $25 million deal with the Cowboys.

But the message of his publicist's asanine comment aside, this episode sheds light on the issue of suicide. I would venture to guess many of us have had to deal with suicide in one form or another in our lifetimes, whether it's losing a loved one or trying to save someone from suicidal thoughts to dealing with those thoughts yourself.

Five years ago, I lost one of the most important and special people in my life to suicide. It was a gut-wrenching reality, and to this day I don't think I'll never understand why anyone would willingly take their own life. It's a senseless, confusing act...and yet so many struggle with it.

I even struggled with thoughts of suicide not long after the aforementioned tragedy. But I recognized the signs early on and after several months of therapy (and a very strong support group in my best friend and my sister), I got through it. So on some level, I empathize with this ordeal.

I'll be honest and say I'm not the biggest T.O. fan in the world. He really fell out of favor with me last year when he threw Donovan McNabb under the bus and went all huffy over the Eagles not giving him a bigger payday. And now that he's a Cowboy, I cannot in good conscience root for him (on account of my loyalty to the Redskins).

But in this regard, I feel for him. Even if he didn't attempt suicide, I still feel for him.

There's the intense pressure of being a professional athlete. You make millions of dollars to play a sport at the highest level possible, and everyone expects you to be the best 24-7. The pressure can get to a player, and sometimes the result could be suicidal thoughts.
"Your job's always in jeopardy," Redskins fullback Mike Sellers told the Daliy Press (Newport News, Va.). "The way I treat it is like finals in college. Every day is a final. There's so many guys out there that want your job and are willing to do anything to get it that you've got to stay on top of your game."

But in T.O.'s case, things seem different. By all accounts, he's a player who seems to thrive on that spotlight and that pressure. He loves it when everyone focuses on him, and as such the rigors of being a professional athlete don't seem to phase him.

No...in the case of Owens, we examine his past for clues as to potential suicidal tendencies. His isolated childhood has been well-documented; his grandmother keeping him in the house, not knowing his father for so many years, being teased and bullied, constantly feeling abandoned and isolated.

For some people, that eventually builds up to a boiling point, especially if the person in question has no release. Some might say football is T.O.'s release, but I can't accept that all that baggage doesn't eat at him.

Attempted suicide or no, I think he needs help. To be fair, both the San Francisco 49ers and the Philadelphia Eagles have offered psychiatric help in the past, but he's denied it both times.

Therapy can be a difficult thing to accept, but I can say from personal experience it is greatly rewarding and something that has the ability to change one's life for the better. Even if T.O. didn't try to kill himself, I still think it would do him some good to consider this route.

And I think this situation sheds light on this for us all. Who hasn't felt isolated or abandoned in life? But if we start seeing that professional athletes can be just as fragile as the rest of us, maybe we can be braver in our everyday struggles.

Considering how many of us idolize professional athletes, going so far as to even call them heroes, such a thing seems plausible.

All the money in the world can't solve everything. I applauded New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez when he admitted several months ago to seeing a therapist. Clearly he didn't have it nearly as good as the masses thought, and I think it takes tremendous courage for him to go, as well as to admit he goes.

I urge everyone to examine this scare for Owens and consider the frailty of humanity--even the sect of humanity capable of sculpted muscles, tremendous athletic feats, and millions of dollars.

Just because Owens didn't try to kill himself doesn't mean we can ignore the reality of suicide. If Deion Sanders can consider suicide, then how susceptible are the rest of us?