New Atlanta Falcons tight end Hayden Hurst penned a personal essay in The Players Tribune published Monday. The article, among other things, detailed his struggle with depression and the time he attempted to take his own life.
Hurst, 26, is a former first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens from the 2018 NFL Draft. Writing in The Players Tribune, spoke about the shame he felt in his parents' presence moments after a failed attempted of suicide. He attempted suicide by way of cutting his wrists at the age of 22.
I looked my mom in the eye, felt the handcuffs that locked me to my hospital bed tighten around my wrists, and I just had no words. Nothing. I went through all these different sentences in my head, trying to get them to make sense so I could spit out something. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Blank. I just wanted to sink into my bed and disappear beneath my gown.
But the handcuffs wouldn’t let me do anything.
So there I was, 22 years old. Twelve hours removed from cutting my own wrists. Five feet from my parents. Five minutes to spend with them.
And a lifetime to try to come to terms with what had happened.
Hurst also revealed how suicide and depression run in his family. An uncle, dealing with alcoholism, killed himself while the Falcons tight end was just 10 years old. His cousin—his uncle's son—later committed suicide not long after.
Additionally, Hurst mentioned his foundation established during his tenure with the Ravens to address mental health in teens and children.
Hurst was traded to the Falcons last week for second and fifth-round picks in the 2020 draft,
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