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Current and former Syracuse athletes spoke alongside mental health professionals during a webinar that Syracuse’s Falk College held Wednesday to promote mental health awareness among athletes.

The “More Than a Game” webinar kicked off with Dona Rodgers sharing the story of her daughter Morgan, a former Duke lacrosse player who died by suicide in 2019, about two years after suffering a 3rd-degree ACL tear. Rodgers struggled with her mental health after the injury, though her positive self expression gave those close to her the false impression that she was back to her usual joyous self.

“She shouldn’t have had to suffer alone,” Dona said.

Dona is one of the co-founders of the nonprofit organization Morgan’s Message, which aims to share stories, resources and expertise to confront college athletes’ mental health. The organization has garnered 229 ambassadors — students who are advocates for athlete mental health in their respective communities — across 133 high school and college campuses.

Syracuse’s Morgan’s Message ambassador is Morgan Alexander, who, much like Rodgers, suffered an ACL tear that sidelined her for consecutive lacrosse seasons.

The injury was the worst moment of her life, Alexander said during the webinar. She underwent five surgeries and multiple rounds of rehab, and while she was able to bounce back from a physical standpoint, her biggest concern was the mental taxation that each recovery process presented.

“When is enough going to be enough on my head?” she recalled always asking herself.

Similarly, men’s basketball senior Quincy Guerrier recalled his persistent groin injury during the 2019-20 season. After students were sent home in March 2020, Guerrier came back to Syracuse in May to receive his surgery, and he hasn’t seen his family since. On top of that, dealing with an injury was new for Guerrier, and he worried whether he would ever be the same player once he fully recovered.

Each athlete struggled to know when to reach out for support. When they would try to downplay the severity of their respective injuries, it made things worse for themselves, and their silence left those closest to them unaware of that reality.

“The mental health aspect of an injury cannot be ignored,” Dona said. “Some think it’s easier to not show any signs of such issues or not to think about them. As an athlete, you are already on a pedestal. You don’t always have to be stellar.”

Jessica Bartley, the director of mental health at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said the stigma around “mental toughness” is the biggest issue when it comes to dealing with such issues. While 83% of student-athletes do reach out to coaches when struggling, more female athletes seek out mental health support resources than male athletes.

“When it comes to men, we don’t cry enough, we don’t apologize enough,” said former Syracuse and NFL linebacker Cam Lynch.

Bartley presented a broad outlook on the different types of mental health disorders as they relate to athletes and the ways people can offer the necessary support for athletes to handle them properly. She stressed how important it is to distinguish between mental health and mental illness, as the two are treated vastly differently. Someone who is struggling with their mental health may not have a mental illness, she said.

But each speaker agreed that mental health concerns are as relevant, if not more, in the world of professional sports as they are in the world of collegiate sports.

After leaving Syracuse, Lynch was signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent and played for three more NFL teams before retiring. During his career, he always thought his spot on each team may be in jeopardy if he made one bad play. He had to be perfect. In the back of his mind, he knew he couldn’t make a mistake or he’d have to start the process all over again.

“We’ll go to the gym, we’ll run some sprints, but when do we train our brain?” Lynch said regarding how NFL teams prioritize the physical side of the game rather than an athlete’s mental health.

Matt Davidson, the founder and president of the Excellence with Integrity Institute, a nonprofit organization that helps build leaders, believes a team’s focus on mental health issues starts within a team’s coaching staff. While coaches and administrators are constantly seeking to recruit the top talent that will allow their program to succeed in the long run, the most important thing is creating a safe space for the athletes they currently work with, Davidson said.

Each athlete and professional shared personal experiences and tips for dealing with mental health, from meditating to simply crying, but they each agreed on one thing: The more aware the next generation of athletes and coaches are of mental health, the more successful they will be on and off the field.

Published on April 21, 2021 at 5:18 pm

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu