The Monday night football matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills was a traumatic sight for all spectators. Especially for the players who were present on the sidelines. Both the teams had to see a fellow teammate and a lively rival collapse onto the pitch. Damar Hamlin, the Bills’ safety after a freak accident, required intensive medical care on the field. While all of this was happening, the players on either side had horror-stricken faces. Talking about them, back-to-back MVP Aaron Rodgers has implored them to open up about their well-being.

Rodgers appeared on the Pat McAfee show recently. There, the future Hall of Fame QB talked about the unfortunate incident on Monday night. The 39-year-old understood the effect it might have had on the players, as he judged them by their frightened faces. Discussing how to comfort those players, Rodgers said, “what do you say to the guys? I don’t know. I mean, I just think you maybe have the best situation, just have an open forum to allow guys to just share their emotions.”

Aaron Rodgers exposes an age old evil

Furthermore, A-Rod explained the role played by the social conditioning currently prevalent, which expects men to put on a tough face and march on. “I think as men sometimes we’re so conditioned maybe to suppress everything, to just put on a good face and you know we’re going to tough through this.” 

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It has been an age old stigma in the society, where men have been taught to bottle up their emotional side. According to Psychologist Terry Real’s book, multiple studies have found that women are more likely to express their feeling and seek support in a time of need. While the society expects men to act more like dependable and strong figureheads, they have found that men are just as emotional as a woman.

Talking especially about the game of football, the QB feels there is a lot to talk about. Highlighting the risks which comes with the territory, the Super Bowl champion feels like it also brings the players closer.

“I think it’s to talk about the mortality of this game,” Rodgers said while talking about the right approach. “Talk about the risks involved talk about how that brings us together and that bond that we have is so special because we know that these kind of things could happen you don’t ever think they’re going to but I think having a forum we can talk about our mortality in this game and what we you know what we go through to play it and what we put on the line the post career as well.”

Thankfully, there are mechanisms in place for the current and former players to follow A-Rod’s advice. The NFL has a free line that connects the players of past and present to professional mental health providers.

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