On the surface, everything looks just fine for Hayden Hurst. He is an NFL tight end making great money and is playing for a Baltimore Ravens team that just won 14 games and profiles as a Super Bowl contender in 2020 and beyond.
But sometimes, the celebrity life isn't all that it's made out to be.
Hurst battles with depression and anxiety, and during an interview with Chris Porter of First Coast News, he detailed what he has gone through throughout his life:
“I woke up in the hospital,” Hurst said of an incident while he was at the University of South Carolina. “I didn’t know what happened. I had to have a friend fill me in. Apparently, I had been drinking and went into my apartment and cut my wrist. My friend found me in a puddle of blood. He called 911.”
It was at that time that Hurst understood he needed help, and now, he is looking to help others in the process:
Article Continues Below“I want to use my platform to help people,” said Hurst. “For some reason, people equate mental illness with having to be ashamed. It’s something you shouldn’t talk about. I don’t think it’s anything to be ashamed of. Everybody goes through something.”
The Ravens originally selected the 26-year-old in the first round (25th pick overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft.
He played in 12 games during his rookie campaign, logging 12 catches for 163 yards and a touchdown. Hurst proceeded to make a much more significant impact in 2019, appearing in every contest and catching 30 passes for 349 yards and a couple of scores.
Now, he is looking to make an impact beyond football and wants people to know that he is not invincible just because he is a professional athlete:
“I don’t have the answers to fix all of this,” said Hurst. “It’s still a trial and error to this day, but I will say I have much more good days than I do bad days. I’m not this superhero that’s portrayed on TV. I’m a regular person. I struggle with depression, anxiety and things like that.”
Hurst also has his own foundation and spoke at the Youth Crisis Center in Jacksonville, Florida, recently.