Right after Blake Proehl posted a video of himself singing, he immediately logged off social media.
"I'm just going to forget that the world exists right now," he told himself. "I don't want to know their reactions."
The Vikings wide receiver shared the video — a cover of the Kings of Leon song "Use Somebody" — on Instagram and TikTok in October 2021, while recovering from a season-ending ACL tear as an undrafted rookie. As difficult as the injury was, the toll the recovery took on his mental health was worse.
That's when Proehl — a three-year NFL pro — turned to music.