Willis McGahee struggled to adapt following his NFL career and it led to him having some dangerous thoughts crossing his mind “a couple of times,” he told The Athletic.
The former running back had a respectable career at the start of the century, playing for four different teams and making the Pro Bowl twice in an 11-year stay in the league.
Speaking to The Athletic’s Tashan Reed, McGahee admitted suicide “crossed my mind a couple of times” in the period after he left the NFL.
“When it’s gone, you really have nothing to fall back on,” he said. “It’s just a lot coming at you, man, and it gets mentally tough.”
McGahee was one of 10 retired NFL players named in a class-action lawsuit filed against the league in February over its disability benefits and “wrongful” denials that also included Jason Alford, Michael McKenzie, Jamize Olawale, Alex Parsons, Daniel Loper, ex-Jet Eric Smith, Joey Thomas, Charles Sims and Lance Zeno, according to NPR.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the league’s Disability Board were named as the defendants, according to the Associated Press.
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The topic was part of a larger discussion McGahee had with Reed about trying to improve the NFL’s disability plan for former players who are either unable to work or limited in what they can do because of a disability or neurocognitive impairment.
“In his second year out of the NFL, McGahee sought benefits through the NFL Disability Plan. Three potential benefits provide monthly payments through the plan: Total & Permanent Disability benefits, which are for former players who are unable to work due to disability; Line of Duty Disability benefits, which are for players who have a substantial disablement due to NFL activities; and Neurocognitive Disability benefits, which are for players with mild or moderate neurocognitive impairment.
“To receive benefits, former players must complete an online application, provide supporting documents, and attend at least one medical examination by what’s described as a “neutral physician” chosen by the NFL Disability Board. (Commissioner Roger Goodell is the chairman of the board, which is composed of three voting members selected by the NFLPA and three voting members selected by the NFL.) From there, the board makes a decision.”
McGahee received the Line of Duty benefits but his application for Total and Permanent benefits has been denied every year he has applied for it because “the doctor he went to see didn’t actually look at his records supporting his impairments and deemed he was still capable of working based solely on a physical observation.”
Reed noted McGahee deals with numerous physical ailments from his football career that include a slipped disc in his back that can make getting out of bed difficult, knee pain, stiff joints, numbness in his feet, and neurological issues that McGahee attributes to concussions.
“It sucks,” McGahee said. “It hasn’t gotten better. Nothing has gotten better. Everything, as time goes along, gets worse. That’s where I’m at right now. I’m just trying to figure it out. It’s very emotionally stressful. It takes a toll on the mind and the body. Because every day you’re trying to figure out, ‘What’s next? How am I gonna get over this hump?'”
McGahee had an 11-year NFL career with four different teams after he was a first-round draft pick by the Buffalo Bills in 2003.
McGahee ran for more than 1,000 yards in three of his first four seasons. He was named to the Pro Bowl twice and finished his career with 8,474 rushing yards and 65 touchdowns in 142 games.
