Ohio State offensive lineman Harry Miller just retired from his sport. On March 10, he announced on Twitter his practically unheard of decision to "medically" retire, writing that it was due to a severe mental health battle.
Miller told his coach that he had intended to take his own life before this past football season. Still, he pressed on. Now the athlete is opening up to the entire world about his struggle with depression.
On Monday, the athlete appeared on Today and delivered a stunningly powerful message about mental health.
With tears in his eyes, Harry looked into the camera and spoke with intention. "I would just say hope is just pretending to believe in something until one day you don't have to pretend any more," the football star — and now mental health advocate — said. "And right now we have all the logic, all the rationale in the world to give up on it. And I just ask, pretend for a little bit, and then one day you won't have to pretend any more and you'll be happy.
"I'm so grateful," he continued, as tears streamed down his cheeks. "And I would just ask to keep pretending and then one day you won't have to, and you'll be so glad that you did. And that's the only advice I think I can muster."
Harry, a junior, was a five-star recruit from Buford, Georgia. He's already had some incredible accomplishments on the football field. In 2020, he helped his team win the Big Ten Championship. But now he's focusing on his health and setting an incredible example for others fighting the same battles in the process.
Judging by Harry's words and his Twitter announcement, retirement is absolutely the toughest and the bravest choice, but it took him a while to understand that. During the height of his battle, he felt that dying was better than "being a coward," he wrote on Twitter.
Harry received medical help last year and returned to football. He wrote that he did so "with scars on my wrists and throat," but his heart wasn't in the game. "There was a dead man on the television set, but nobody knew it," he wrote.
After his announcement, Harry felt that he needed to speak out. "I had no intention of this happening the way it did, and people call me brave," he said on Today. "But to me this felt like not dying, and I felt like being honest. And maybe bravery is just being honest when it would easier not to, and if that's bravery, then so be it."
Harry's retirement should raise awareness about the immense pressure put on young athletes. His announcement comes shortly after Katie Meyer, the star soccer goalie at Stanford University, died by suicide.
Note: If you or any of your loved ones are struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can always reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling 1-800-273-8255. They are available 24/7 by phone or online chat.
