Mike Vrabel may not leave the call unanswered. He’s not here.
Like many others, the request for assistance reached the inbox of the Tennessee Titans’ head coach, but this message from the Jason Foundation, a Tennessee-based project committed to preventing youth suicide, captivated Vrabel and the coach decided he should act.
Since 2000, the Titans have donated proceeds from their enrollment program to the Jason Foundation and nine other Nashville-area charities. But when he addressed the factor of lending his voice to the cause, Vrabel made a strong commitment, we decided to help fight the “silent epidemic. “
Throughout September (which is Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month), he lent time and resources to the Jason Foundation, and also made a series of public service announcements as a component of the organization’s educational systems to equip youth, educators, and parents with teams and resources for them to identify and help at-risk youth.
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But at the end of September, Vrabel does not need the message to be transmitted in the dark. While the month’s suicide awareness and prevention campaigns would likely end, the trainer is intimate with continuing to talk about suicide prevention.
“This is an incredibly important thing, only for suicide prevention, but also for the intellectual fitness and well-being of our teens,” Vrabel told USA TODAY Sports in an interview last Friday. “I have a 20-year-old son and an 18-year-old Son, and strikingly the environment in which they grow up is another environment in which I grew up with social media and the imagination described in those avenues.
“So I need to raise awareness and verify to help save what is the leading cause of death at the moment in other people over 10 to 24. “
The project is vital for Vrabel, not only because he is the father of young people, but also because of two painful reports within his circle of football relatives.
In 2012, Hall of Fame linebacker and New England Patriots teammate Junior Seau committed suicide.
Vrabel still remembers the day he learned of Seau’s death. While an assistant coach at Ohio State, Vrabel was recruiting for Indianapolis.
Vrabel recalled: “It was a traumatic delight for all of us.
Then, in June 2019, one of the Titans’ assistants, George Cheng, committed suicide by shaking up members of the organization.
When Titans players returned to the region for education camp about a month later, Vrabel, who attended Cheng’s 28-year-old funeral, began talking to his players about the importance of communication and duty as a team to help prevent suicide. A year later, the partnership with the Jason Foundation strengthened Vrabel’s determination and message to his players, team enthusiasts and children.
“The only thing the Jason Foundation has tried to teach parents and teachers: what the precautionary signs might be. If you’re not sure, you want to be sure. Or, he says to someone else, “I’m not sure about this or that. “This reminds a player that he would possibly have had a head injury on the field. You say to Array, “Hey, I’m not sure, but he doesn’t look like himself. “
As Vrabel says, undeniable recordings with enjoyed recordings may end up making a difference, so whether it’s with your children, former team-goers or Titans players, you make sure to keep those lines of communication open, while maintaining transparency.
“It’s about offering them a space to talk,” Vrabel said, chatting with his children. “I think it’s vital to express my own emotions and fears. Again, I learned through my own communication and I try that when you’re in the river, one aspect is anxiety and another aspect is depression and you look to get away from it. Check to avoid being worried about the afterlife and not being worried about what might go wrong in the future. concentrate on the present. “
The coach understands the intellectual anguish that can be generated through isolation and loneliness, and that is a component of explaining why, without delay after his playing days, he began training, convinced that maintaining an active life would help protect him from depression. It encourages healthy habits, but more than anything, it hopes to convey the message that it is appropriate and vital to ask others for help.
“Suicide is not the answer to a bad day or a bad week, and if you feel desperate or sad, there’s someone who’s willing to help you, pay attention to you, communicate,” Vrabel insists. a coach, a teacher, your parents or an aunt, an uncle or a friend, you have to perceive that there are other people who will be there for you, no matter how bad you feel. “
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If you or know you have suicidal thoughts, you can call the U. S. National Suicide Prevention Line. But it’s not the first time At 800-273-TALK (8255) anytime, day or night, or chat online.