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Gators find ways to cope with stress, criticism and other mental health challenges

Orlando Sentinel - 10/28/2019

Oct. 28--UF receiver Trevon Grimes is all in on the Gators and all about his teammates.

Sometimes, Grimes also needs to escape, go off by himself and spend time with Youngboy, DaBaby and Young Jeezy -- three of his favorite artists.

Sitting in his car in the Florida heat, with the AC blasting and the music cranking, Grimes finds the balance and peace of mind he needs in order to endure a long, rigorous season a lot less glamorous than it might appear to most.

"Every day, every time before a game, I just go sit in my car and relax and listen to music for at least an hour-and-a-half, just to relax my mind and get everything off of football," Grimes said. "There comes a point where it's just, I wouldn't say overbearing, but it's a lot of pressure, so that's something I do.

"Yeah, waste a lot of gas, but it helps me out a lot to relax my mind."

Most Gators have their methods to blow off some steam during the season.

"A lot of players have their own little routines," Grimes said.

They also lean heavily on one another.

"We all have group chats and stuff, so we all stay on top of each other," UF safety Shawn Davis said. "That's something we always do to look out for each other."

The SEC wants to be more of a resource, too.

This past summer, the league set out to help improve the mental health of its football players, a group of young men in a spotlight and under a microscope that continues to intensify in the digital age.

Athletes across the country have come forward sharing their battles with depression, with Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski's suicide in 2018 grabbing the attention of any school ignoring the issue.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said mental health now might be the most pressing issue raised when he meets with the league's athletes.

"The perspectives on mental health represent not a ripple of change, but a wave of new reality, which faces all of us in intercollegiate athletics and higher education," Sankey said during SEC Media Days.

This past week, the No. 7 Gators (7-1, 4-1 SEC) were given a chance to get away from the grind a bit during a bye before placing a laser focus on Saturday's showdown with No. 10 Georgia (6-1, 3-1).

Most of the time this time of year, though, the Gators face a relentless daily schedule -- workouts, classes, practice, team meals, film study, tutoring and more.

To many outside of college sports, Grimes and his teammates appear to have cashed in the golden ticket. Playing big-time college football for the Gators also comes with a price.

"There are guys that on a Saturday, a lot of people come and watch them play, and a lot of people think, 'Boy, these guys are these celebrity football stars,'" UF coach Dan Mullen said. "Monday morning they still got to go to class with everybody else. I think everybody gets caught up in the 1% that go on to play professional football. But there's a lot of guys in our program that have a whole life ahead of them when they leave.

"We have to make sure they are prepared for whatever life is going through with them."

The attention, accolades, elevated social status, full-time scholarship and NFL opportunities are the spoils of playing in the SEC.

The long hours, personal attacks from fans, inevitable injuries and the juggling act of sport and school required of a student-athlete are other realities few consider.

"A lot of us are fighting for a lot of different reasons, fighting a lot of different injuries, different people," said UF defensive tackle Adam Shuler, a graduate transfer from West Virginia in his second year with the Gators. "It's a very stressful situation. Even with guys transferring and stuff like that. I don't think the NCAA or people actually pay enough attention to it because mental health is a serious issue.

"The people who come out and make it are very strong people because I'm pretty sure everybody that plays football in college has hit a low point at one time."

The low point for Shuler, a former standout at Longwood'sLyman High, was when he graduated from West Virginia University and realized he wanted to return home to Florida. Eventually, he turned to his faith, instilled when he was growing up in Altamonte Springs.

"I really didn't know what was going on. I felt like I should have finished what I started," the 22-year-old Shuler recalled of his time at West Virginia. "After awhile -- I'm religious -- after awhile I prayed about it. It all came clear what I needed to do.

"It made me happy when I did it."

Grimes, a high school star in his native Fort Lauderdale, went off to Ohio State. He left during October of his freshman year to be closer to family and ended up in Gainesville.

Most UF players have been with the program since leaving high school.

Senior receiver Tyrie Cleveland quickly learned the passion -- good and bad -- of Gator Nation, a rabid fan base with championship expectations yet frustrated by the program's struggles this decade prior to Mullen's arrival.

Cleveland, a high-profile recruit, made headlines for the wrong reasons when he and teammate Rick Wells were charged with destruction of property with BB guns during the summer of 2016. Cleveland's 63-yard game-winning touchdown to beat Tennessee in 2017 made him a star, yet injuries and a lack of production landed him in the cross-hairs of a segment of fans who used Twitter accounts to express their opinions.

With experience came perspective for Cleveland, who since has recorded the most community service hours on the team and is UF's nominee for the Wuerffel Trophy, a national award for an athlete's on-and-off-the-field excellence.

"There's a lot of weight on our shoulders," said Cleveland, 21. "But we have to deal with it. That comes with football. There's a lot of pressure. You have to be able to control that and continue to not let the negativity and peoples' opinions affect your game.

"I've gotten a lot better at not buying into the outside noise about my game. I'm waking up at 6 a.m. trying to put myself in the best position to be great. So I feel like somebody's opinion on social media doesn't matter to me because they're not going through the things that I'm going through each and every day.

"As long as I know I'm true for myself, everything will work out good."

Not everyone, though, can rely on their inner strength to navigate the challenges and potential pitfalls of playing college football.

Few can relate to the pressure more than coaches, though few of them grew up in a world where feedback was given instantly and without empathy.

"These guys have grown up on their cellphones," Ole Miss coach Matt Luke said. "There's a huge level of anxiety in guys getting their self-worth looking at that cellphone and how many likes they get and things like that. So I think developing the whole athlete and taking the steps to hire some extra people in the mental health area, I think, is very important.

"It's important not only developing them as players but also off the field and developing the whole person."

Grimes, a 21-year-old junior, has grown to accept the new world order.

"It kind of seems like everybody has their own comments on everything that you do," he said. "If it's from a tweet or a post or anything, somebody has a comment on it, which is kind of tough nowadays -- there's kind of lack of privacy.

"But it is what it is. We signed up for it and we have to deal with it."

The SEC and its schools do not want athletes to feel isolated and alone.

UF athletics director Scott Stricklin said the school has support systems to help athletes with academics, nutrition and their health, addressing both physical and mental issues.

"We invest a lot of resources, and rightly so, to make sure our athletes have as much support as possible," he said. "It's a national issue. I think the current generation of young people have more feedback coming at them than any prior generation."

In the end, coaches and players do not seek to simplify a complex issue that impacts each individual differently.

Grimes turns to music, Shuler to his religious upbringing, Cleveland to plying his craft at dawn. Ultimately, though, the Gators aim to handle the expectations, demands and pressures of college football as one unit.

"You got your brothers here, your teammates. They help you get through it," UF senior receiver Josh Hammond said. "Coach Mullen and the coaches, they love us to death. They do the best they can to make you feel like you're at home.

"Everyone is going to go through those tough times in college. One thing about this team is we stick together. We stay together to help everyone get through it."

egthompson@orlandosentinel.com

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