Dear NFL Players: Time to Drop the Macho Man Mentality

The news of the apparent suicide of Junior Seau has rocked the entire sports world, especially the world of football. The question that inevitably is raised in the aftermath of this tragedy is a simple, but powerful one: Why?

Even people who had seen Seau as recently as Monday at a charity golf tournament said that Seau was in good spirits and told attendees that he was feeling great, according to people.com. So the question is reiterated: Why?

If Seau was feeling so good and life was great, then why take your own life? The answer seems pretty simple: Seau wasn't feeling good and his life was not as great as it may have seemed. The truth was that Seau was unhappy enough to take his own life.

Once again the previous question is asked: Why? Why did Seau feel that he could not tell friends and family he was having difficulties with life after football? Why couldn't he express to someone how unhappy he was inside? For me, the answer goes back to the mentality and image of NFL players.

NFL players are easily seen as the toughest players in sports by fans and even other athletes. They go out every Sunday and put their lives on the line to play a game that is watched by many. Everyone knows how tough football players are, so why is there a constant need to prove it? Players who get hurt don't always tell people they're hurt, players don't admit their upset, etc. This is one of the bigger problems I feel is in the NFL and even sports in general.

Players need to be able to tell each other, or anyone, if there is something wrong in their lives. There seems to be this macho man mentality in sports that prohibits players from expressing themselves on any sort of emotional level; for what reason, I don't know.

Maybe it's fear of being ridiculed, maybe it's fear of opening up to people, maybe it's past experiences. But what I do know is that it needs to change. Players need an avenue to vent whatever is going on in their lives. Playing a sport professionally is a stressful occupation, and there has to be a swirl of many different emotions, including depression at times. NFL players, you need to speak up.

We as fans know and understand these feelings. We know you're just as human as the rest of us. We all have high points and low points, and above all, we all need to express how we're feeling without the doubt of being ridiculed or hurt even further.

We all know how tough you are to even step on the field on Sundays. You don't have to prove that to us or your fellow players. Real macho men talk about what's troubling them, no matter the consequences or fears you have. Please change this culture of repressing feelings, troubling ones especially. It will save lives.