David Montgomery Had Suicidal Thoughts Over Fantasy Football

David Montgomery Had Suicidal Thoughts Over Fantasy Football

David Montgomery is rockstar in terms of fantasy football and he recently just signed a lucrative contract extension with the Lions. Of course, that wasn’t always the case as the former Iowa State product had plenty of struggles during his early years with the Bears. It turns out, Montgomery was really struggling with his mental health. So much so that he had suicidal thoughts over the fact that he was disappointing fantasy football owners.

“When I was a rookie, I had a real, real stressful time in the league,” Montgomery said on Sports Illustrated’s “Fantasy Dirt” podcast with Michael Fabiano and Lindsay Rhodes.

“I was at a point where I would have this suicidal thought and it just a depressing and a scary year for me. And unfortunately, fantasy, the people in fantasy were kind of helping — they were helping me kind of be aided to feeling that way. I was at a point where I was scared to live.”

“I went through all of that stuff and one person who saved my life was my nephew. I was in a situation to where I was this close to doing something that I knew I shouldn’t have done, that would have changed the trajectory of my life or changed the trajectory of everybody else around me in my life,” Montgomery said. “And my nephew called me, right when I was in the midst of doing so. And he didn’t say anything about football. He didn’t say anything about how fast I was. He just said, ‘Uncle Dave, I miss you. How are you doing?’ And my nephew, and it meant so much to me, because my nephew, he has leukemia.

“And I was in a very dark place, very very dark place. And from that point on, hearing my nephew’s voice, I made a vow to myself and a promise to myself that I would never, ever allow anybody else to have that much control over my mind, my body to make me feel like I wasn’t worth anything or valued in a light to where I had a purpose on this Earth.”

Credit to Montomgery for opening up. Admitting this kind of stuff isn’t the easiest thing to do. Some players don’t care about fantasy football. In the case of Montgomery, he cared so much that it ruined his head.

Fantasy managers that own Montgomery certainly can’t complain anymore and it’s great to see his mental health is in a better state. Through five games, Montgomery has 351 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the season.

The Lions running back said his therapist has been a great influence on him.

“Yeah, it was scary, but I got a really good therapist,” Montgomery said of battling the suicidal thoughts. “I’ve been working with a therapist for five years now, and being able to regulate and express my emotions and being able to allow myself to know that I am enough, you know, and I’ve been through a lot of things. I’ve been through a lot of places where people don’t even know who I am. But I get to create that perception for myself, to how I view myself and how my son views me. And, you know, I’m having the best time of my life. And I’m enjoying life for exactly what it is.”

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