Ryan Leaf, the former Dallas Cowboys and NFL quarterback, has been remarkably candid about the struggles with addiction and mental health that surely contributed to his relative failures as a pro. And maybe that makes him uniquely qualified to speak to some of the same demons that haunted Johnny Manziel - and the Netflix documentary that Leaf is labeling a "cartoon.''
"The media, for all its bloviating about mental health, suicide, and substance use disorder, sure sets the conversation back when sports are involved," Leaf said last week in reviewing "Untold: Johnny Football,'' suggesting that the show "did more damage by continuing to stigmatize all three of them.''
Leaf, who was the No. 2 overall pick in the ... NFL Draft - and to many was seen as a head-to-head prospect with Peyton Manning, who went No. 1 that year - has used his own struggles to help campaign for a wider understanding of the issue. Part of his point here is that when it comes to athletes with issues, society "puts on blinders.''
"Why, when sports are involved everyone seems to put blinders on?" Leaf asked. "In an attempt to entertain, Netflix set the conversation back. It stigmatized mental health, suicide and substance use disorder ... (and) offered zero solutions and took advantage of someone with an untreated disease."
Said Manziel in the show: “I had planned to do everything I wanted to do at that point in my life, spend as much money as I possibly could and then my plan was to take my life.''
Manziel was a phenomenon starting at Texas A&M in the mid-2010's, winning the Heisman before his failed career as a Cleveland Browns first-round pick.
The Manziel documentary, Leaf alleges, makes "a mockery of mental health, suicide, substance use disorder and (is) a cartoon of the 'Johnny Football' character and offered no healing solutions."
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.
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