first-round pick of the Lions out of UMass and started the season opener — and it wasn’t good. He threw four interceptions, including one returned 35 yards for a TD by

This is the final installment of our series covering mental health in the NFL. If you missed them Will Harris Jersey Womens , check out Part 1 and Part 2 here. All this week we have talked about mental health and how..."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Detroit Lions NewsDetroit Lions NotesDetroit Lions AnalysisDetroit Lions TransactionsDetroit Lions Game RecapsBreaking NewsIntroducing the 2019 Detroit Lions Draft Class! 脳NFL NewsMental health in the NFL, Part 3: Eric Hipple’s story and life after footballNew,22commentsEDTShareTweetShareShareMental health in the NFL, Part 3: Eric Hipple’s story and life after footballThis is the final installment of our series covering mental health in the NFL. If you missed them, check out Part 1 and Part 2 here. All this week we have talked about mental health and how current players, as well as the NFL Players Association, are handling it in today’s game. But what about the players that have moved on from football? What happens when there is no more team, no more league and the spotlight fades? Former Detroit Lions quarterback Eric Hipple knows the answer to those questions all too well. You may remember Eric Hipple. From 1980 to 1989, he was a quarterback for the Detroit Lions. He was their starter for five of those years. Perhaps his most memorable moment came in his first career start in 1981 when he torched the Bears for four passing touchdowns and another two on the ground on “Monday Night Football.” After Eric retired from football in 1989, he started a business and threw himself into it. That’s when his troubles began.“I started feeling no motivation,” Hipple told me. “I started to not want to go out, I didn’t want to call on people anymore. I felt fatigue and tired and really, just had a loss of pleasure.”At the time, Hipple didn’t know if what he was feeling was because of injury, not having that rush of playing in the league anymore, or simply dealing with the stresses of being a business owner. Eric soon realized that he was living with depression.His business began to fall apart. He struggled to give it the proper attention it needed to succeed. Pressure began to mount, and Eric couldn’t help but feel like he was losing it. One day, everything changed when Eric jumped out of a moving car on his way to the airport in an attempt to take his own life. “My wife was driving me to the airport, and I just kinda thought to myself, ‘I can’t do this Matthew Stafford Jersey ,’ and I jumped out of the car. We were going 75 miles per hour when I jumped out and I hit the pavement and took quite a tumble. I didn’t get run over. I was very fortunate that the other cars behind us didn’t hit me. I woke up in the hospital.”Eric didn’t want any help. He, too, was held back by the stigma that, as a man, he shouldn’t show weakness. He felt that because he was a former NFL quarterback and a business owner, this couldn’t happen to him. Because he refused help and treatment, he says he didn’t learn anything at that time. Because of that, he couldn’t tell that his son Jeff was also suffering with depression. In 2000, Jeff took his own life at the age of 15. Afterwards, Eric’s life spun out of control. He began to turn to alcohol, which led to his arrest in 2002 for a DUI. He served 58 days in jail — 58 days that he said helped change his life. “You reach a point in time where, ‘Where do I see my life going?’” Hipple said. “For 58 days I wasn’t around anybody, but that 58 days of time sitting there gave me a chance to focus on, ‘Do I want my life to continue this way or that way? What is it that you want out of life?’ At that point in time I wanted answers. That’s what I wanted. I wanted answers for what happened to my son Jeff and what happened to me.” That’s when Eric went to the University of Michigan’s Depression Center in 2003 in search of those answers. It was there that Eric was diagnosed with depression. He soon began to learn more about his disorder. He learned that he wasn’t alone, and more importantly, that depression isn’t a death sentence.Eric decided he wanted to help other former players who were having trouble transitioning to normal, everyday life. “When a player leaves the NFL or college, it’s almost like they’re being kicked out or ostracized,” Hipple said. “You lose having your uniform, having your team Darius Slay Jersey , and you lose your support system. People see you and they look up to you and all the sudden you’re outside of that and so who are you? That transition piece becomes very important from a psychological point of view. How do you make that transition?”In 2014, Eric began working with Brandon Scott, the Community Relations Manager for the Detroit Lions, to form a group call the Peer Pride. The group’s goal is to help former players get a hold of their mental disorders and transition from the league. “We have eight guys that we’ve trained to be peer outreach captains,” Hipple explained. “We make phone calls with alumni and we try to see where everybody is at. If somebody does need help, then we have resources for them. Is it a crisis or stress? We’ve been trained to try and talk someone through it, but we have ways of getting somebody that help, which is a very important piece.”If you’re not a former Detroit Lion, the NFLPA also has programs in place for former NFL players, programs called Your PAF (Professional Athletes Forum)and The Trust. Your PAF is set up almost like a magazine, and is designed to help players with everyday things like relationships, finances, mental health and transitioning from the game to normal life. They also set up symposiums that former and current players can attend to learn more about these subjects. The Trust is much like the Your PAF program, but with a greater emphasis on the business and monetary end of things. I would like to take a moment to thank everyone that made mental health week at Pride of Detroit possible. Thank you to Eli Harold, Eric Hipple, Ricky Jean Francois, Brandon Parker, the NFLPA, and Jeremy Reisman. Thank you to the readers that took time to read these stories as well. Please do all that you can to help those in need. To the those with mental health issues, know you’re not alone. If you need help Marvin Jones Jersey , don’t be afraid to use one of these outlets.Suicide Prevention Hotline1-800-273-8255National Alliance On Mental Illness1- 800-950-6264U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Crisis Line1-800-273-8255LGBT National Hotline1-888-843-4564Active Minds Sam Darnold‘s first snap for the New York Jets on Monday night will be one for the record books.The rookie will become the youngest quarterback to start a season opener in the Super Bowl era — since the 1966 season — at 21 years and 97 days old at kickoff against the Lions in Detroit.Darnold, the No. 3 overall pick, beat out incumbent Josh McCown and the since-traded Teddy Bridgewater for the Jets’ starting job with a solid summer and preseason.“We are trying to help the team win and we feel like he gives us a good chance to win,” coach Todd Bowles said. “We’re not starting him because he’s a rookie and he’s not ready. We’re starting him because he gives us a chance to win the game.”Darnold will also be the first rookie quarterback to start a season opener on “Monday Night Football.” The former USC star is used to the spotlight and playing in big games, but even the coolest of California kids might feel a little case of the nerves before this prime-time debut.“I’m just going about the week like how I normally would, so just going about it that way,” Darnold said. “I think toward the game I might get a little nervous. I guess we’ll see.”The Jets have had just two rookie quarterbacks open a season under center: Mark Sanchez (2009) and Geno Smith (2013). Nope, not even Joe Namath did what Darnold is about to accomplish. Broadway Joe was Mike Taliaferro’s backup for New York’s season opener in 1965 before starting the next three games.Oh, and both Sanchez and Smith won in their debuts, so Darnold could make it 3-0 for Jets rookie starting QBs.But he also has a bit of history against him.Here’s a look at how the previous youngest quarterbacks to start a season opener in the Super Bowl era fared in their first NFL games:DREW BLEDSOE, New England Patriots, Sept. 5, 1993 (21 years, 203 days)Loss: Buffalo 38, New England 14After being the No. 1 overall pick, Bledsoe started right away for the Patriots — and had a rough debut at Buffalo. He went 14 of 30 for 148 yards and two touchdowns with an interception and was sacked three times while losing to Jim Kelly and the Bills.Bledsoe started 12 games as a rookie for Bill Parcells’ Patriots, going 5-7 and finishing with 15 TDs and 15 INTs. He soon carved out a terrific career for himself and was selected to four Pro Bowls. A serious chest injury in the second game of the 2001 season against the Jets gave Tom Brady a chance to play — and the rest is, well, NFL history.MATTHEW STAFFORD, Detroit Lions Kerryon Johnson Jersey , Sept. 13, 2009 (21 years, 219 days)Loss: New Orleans 45, Detroit 27Stafford beat out veteran Daunte Culpepper for the starting job in training camp and was under center for the season opener at New Orleans.Stafford went 16 of 37 for 205 yards and was intercepted three times, including twice by Darren Sharper, in the blowout loss. He ran for a touchdown, though.The No. 1 overall pick that year had much better days to come.Stafford is the fastest player to reach 3,000 completions and last year joined Brett Favre, Dan Marino and Peyton Manning as the only QBs to reach 200 career TD passes before the age of 30.JAMEIS WINSTON, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Sept. 13, 2015 (21 years, 250 days)Loss: Tennessee 42, Tampa Bay 14Winston was the top pick in the draft that year and had a solid summer to win the starting job. He got off to a bad start in front of the home crowd, though, as his first pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Coty Sensabaugh. It marked the first time a rookie’s first throw was returned for a TD since Brett Favre — then with Atlanta — in 1991.Winston was 16 of 33 for 210 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions, along with four sacks. He was outplayed by fellow rookie Marcus Mariota, the second overall selection that year, who threw four TD passes.DeSHONE KIZER, Cleveland Browns Amani Oruwariye Detroit Lions Jersey , Sept. 10, 2017 (21 years, 250 days)Loss: Pittsburgh 21, Cleveland 18Kizer was a second-round pick out of Notre Dame and beat out the likes of Brock Osweiler, Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan to start the game at home.He also nearly helped pull off an opening day upset , going 20 of 30 for 222 yards with a TD and an interception while also running for a 1-yard score that capped an impressive 12-play drive.But Kizer was benched a few times during the Browns’ 0-16 season and traded to Green Bay in the offseason.GREG LANDRY, Detroit, Sept. 15, 1968 (21 years, 272 days)Loss: Dallas 59, Detroit 13Landry was a first-round pick of the Lions out of UMass and started the season opener — and it wasn’t good. He threw four interceptions, including one returned 35 yards for a TD by Chuck Howley, in the rout.He finished 15 of 31 for 231 yards and had two touchdown tosses, but was benched in favor of Bill Munson in Week 2. Landry started one more game as a rookie — a 12-0 loss to Philadelphia — before becoming mostly a solid backup and spot starter for Detroit through 1978. He also played for Baltimore and Chicago, as well as two years in the USFL.___