This week, Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. spoke with retired All-Pro running back Ricky Williams.
In his interview with Easton Jr., Williams discussed his partnership with Panini America after being hosted along with several other NFL players and legends at the Panini Prizm VIP lounge in San Francisco during Super Bowl LX week. He also acknowledged the NFL’s shift in its approach to mental health awareness.
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“A couple of events that are memorable for me after starting to play college and then professional football. The first was being in a video game. That’s probably first and second close second was having my own card and then third was starting to sign cards.” said Williams, “Because when I was a kid, is like, if you signed a card, the value went down and and that’s changed drastically since, since I was a kid, and now it’s, it’s what people want the most are signed, signed cards. And so it’s, it’s beautiful because cards have turned into a piece of memorabilia, something for athletes to sign.”
Williams boldly stepped away from football to focus on his mental health at the height of his career in the early 2000s. He has noticed the league’s positive approach since retiring in 2012.
“I like to take pride in thinking that I had something to do with this shift in the NFL,” said Williams, “I think over the past 20 years, there’s been a shift, pretty much everywhere, people are more open to having discussions and providing more support for mental health. But the nature of the NFL is that they didn’t have to follow the trend, and they have, and I commend them for it.”
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Players such as former Kansas City Chiefs 2020 first-round draft pick Clyde Edwards-Helaire sought help for their issues to continue their NFL careers.
“It’s tough because football is such a tough sport; it’s taken a while for mental health to find its way in,” said Williams, “So I think the NFL is doing a great job of providing players with the support they need when they need it.”
Panini is the exclusive trading card partner of the NFL. You can get Panini NFL Trading Cards at Walmart, Target, hobby stores nationwide, and atwww.PaniniAmerica.net.
This article originally appeared on Chiefs Wire: Ricky Williams reflects on the NFL’s growth in mental health awareness