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Detroit Lions star David Montgomery recently made headlines following his confession about major mental health struggles. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Montgomery recalled a heartbreaking moment when he was close to taking his life.
David Montgomery’s confession deeply impacted many fans, fellow players and their families, including Rachel Bush, the wift of Miami Dolphins star Jordan Poyer. On Friday, Bush shared her reaction to Montgomery's heartbreaking confession via X.
"Jordan & I (along with others) have had the conversation about- “what has changed in football over the years that is slowly deteriorating it?” One of the main conclusions we came to was social media for multiple different reasons. Too many to list in one tweet. But how sad," Rachel Bush said via X.
"One thing I personally have not been able to grasp over our NFL years is how fans will trash talk and speak so negatively on one of their own team’s players. The best thing you could do for that player and that team is uplift," Bush added to her previous statement.
Rachel Bush made a couple of more tweets where she encouraged fans to stop spreading negativity. Bush expressed how much of the negativity athletes deal with following a game, and how that could adversely affect their performance and health.
"Your favorite players, favorite QBs, are going on twitter after games. Words hurt and can hold so much power over individuals. Especially going into the next week and especially when those words are negative," Bush expressed in another X post.
David Montgomery shared details on mental health struggles in early NFL years
On Thursday, David Montgomery made an appearance on Sports Illustrated's Fantasy Dirt podcast alongside Lindsay Rhodes and Michael Fabiano. During the podcast episode, Montgomery recalled having thoughts of suicide during his rookie year.
"When I was a rookie, I had a real, real stressful time in the league. I was at a point where I would have this suicidal thought, and it was just a depression. It was just a depression. It was just a depression and a scary year for me. And unfortunately, the people in fantasy were kind of helping me be aided to feeling that way. And I was at a point where I was scared to live," Montgomery said. (7:21)
Moving forward in the interview, David Montgomery revealed how he was close to taking his life, but his nephew's unexpected call somehow saved him. Talking about the same, the Lions running back said:
"And my nephew called me right when I was in the midst of doing so. And he didn't say anything about football. He didn't say anything about how fast I was. He just said, 'Uncle Dave, I miss you. How are you doing?' And my nephew and it meant so much to me because my nephew, he has leukemia."
"And I was in a very dark place, a very dark place. And from that point on, hearing my nephew's voice, I made a vow to myself and a promise to myself that I would never, ever allow anybody else to have that much control over my mind ... I had a purpose on this Earth," Montgomery added.
David Montgomery said that he is in a great place now, in terms of both his health and career. The season is going well for the running back, as he scored a touchdown in all four games so far.
