The 300-pound Colorado State lineman was a physically dominant force. But it was his mind that struggled, and he didn’t want it to show.
The summer before his junior year, a best friend back home died in a motorcycle crash and another suffered brain injury in a separate car crash. Then he faced relationship trouble. It all seemed to happen at once. The player hardly spoke of his pain that entire season and funneled his energy toward football. Yet outside the game, he often withdrew from his teammates.
Then something changed.
“Finally,” he said, “I opened up about everything.