Chiefs' Clyde Edwards-Helaire Reveals Struggles With PTSD

The Kansas City Chiefs ' journey to an unprecedented third consecutive Super Bowl will be littered with hurdles and challenges. For running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, the obstacles are always there. Off the field. And inside his body.

Edwards-Helaire missed another training camp practice on Tuesday, for what the Chiefs are calling "illness." Indeed it is. But more precisely, it's post-traumatic stress disorder, and at times it's debilitating for him.

Edwards-Helaire recently posted on his Twitter account the reason for his absences this week talked in detail about his experiences.

"Sometimes I'm admitted into the hospital, something like I can't stop throwing up and it's just, I [don't] know [anything] pretty much to stop it,'' said Edwards-Helaire, the Chiefs' first-round draft pick in 2020. "Real bad dehydration ... but it's really just mentally just not being there. It is one of those things where early on guys who kind of pay attention like Travis [Kelce] and Kadarius [Toney], at times they can even, they'll know ahead of time like, 'OK, Clyde's not laughing, he's not giggling, he's not himself.'"

He said the exact date of the beginning of his PTSD was Dec. 22, 2018, after what he described as a "self-defense situation" in college at LSU.

Two LSU football players were trying to sell an electronic device on that date when one of them fatally shot an 18-year-old man trying to rob them, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police said at the time. The police didn't identify the players, but The Associated Press reported that Edwards-Helaire was one of them.

"I would say that's probably where a majority of things stem from,'' said Edwards-Helaire, 25. "I wouldn't necessarily say everything stemmed from that. I have best friends that passed away at young ages from gun violence and just not being in the right places at the right time and just knowing that I have people that are close to me or around me who ... could be in the same spots that I am.''

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One of his coping mechanisms is being open about his condition.

"I feel like talking is a big thing," he said. "Being able to know that honestly, just everybody goes through things good and bad. It's a steppingstone. I'm just 25 years old and trying to live the rest of my life healthy.''