The 2017 NFL regular season may be over for injured New York Giants wide receiver Brandon Marshall, but he is focusing on making an impact off of the field.
Marshall has teamed up with ‘The Players’ Tribune’ to take part in their six-episode video series, hosted by former NBA player Jerry Stackhouse, called ‘First Step’, in partnership with American Family Insurance.
‘First Step’ will follow Stackhouse as he travels across the country to meet fellow athletes focused on important issues facing communities today, from education and healthcare, to mental health and gender equality.
Marshall, who has long been a voice for mental health awareness will be featured in an upcoming episode of the series.
“I just think it’s an honest conversation about mental health. So, telling our story, my story, I think people connect well with people who make themselves vulnerable and are truly transparent” Marshall told me.
“I think when you do that, it allows others who may be in the same boat or dealing with similar issues, face their fears and give them hope and courage.”
‘The Players’ Tribune’ is embarking on, what they hope, is a significant venture that will place a spotlight on a myriad of important issues and share unique perspectives and personal stories of well-known athletes.
‘First Step’ could help people understand these issues, open dialogue for future discussion and, importantly, shine a larger public spotlight on them.
“Awareness” Marshall said when asked what his main goal of participating in the series is.
“It’s been the #1 thing for years.
The most important thing we can do around this topic [mental health], is to raise awareness. We gotta understand that it’s still highly stigmatized, it’s still a careful topic, so being able to reach millions will be so rewarding and so beneficial to our community” Marshall explained.
Marshall has seen the NFL make mass changes over the years, with a focus on player safety, and the veteran wide out would like to see the league increase focus on mental health issues.
Marshall, along with his wife Michi, have dedicated their time to their Project 375 campaign which promotes discussions regarding mental health issues and also raises awareness.
”To have professionals on staff, on site, that’s Number 1. Number 2 is to continue to look at the programs that we have and make sure that everyone is aware of what the NFL offers, the Player’s Association offers, because not everyone knows the benefits that we [the players] do have.
While we’re looking at where we’re at we can maybe improve or add things that can help not only the players but our families as well” Marshall said.
The ‘First Step’ series features athletes across numerous areas of sports and will feature athletes and coaches such as Becky Hammon, Brandon Ingram, Maya Moore, Charles Tillman and Caleb Swanigan.
The conversation flowing from sport-to-sport will undoubtedly bring unity to the effort to not only raise awareness but also find solutions to implement.
“This is something that every athlete faces at some point in their career” Marshall said. “Whether it’s poor performance or dealing with life. It’s not healthy living life on a performance basis and that’s what we do every single day.
We are always under evaluation, there’s always a microscope on us and that’s tough, for anyone”. Marshall admitted.
“For us to deal with it at the highest level, every single day, year-in and year-out, is really stressful and draining, and if you‘re not mentally fit then it’s going to be a struggle for you.
“That’s why we see a lot of guys, when they leave the league or the league is taken away from them, we see them so unstable.”
The ‘First Step’ series promises to be meaningful and the message, the subject matter, should resonate with people across the country.
Marshall, along with ‘The Player’s Tribune’, hope that their efforts go a long way in raising awareness, opening dialogue and bringing people together for the numerous issues, such as mental health, that impact our society and culture on a daily basis.
You can see the first episode of ‘First Step’ featuring Charles Tillman right here or by watching it below.