Deion Sanders is proud of the man Tyler Brown has become. The Colorado offensive lineman, who followed Coach Prime from Jackson State, has been open about his struggles with mental health.

Brown shared a moving flashback of his on the Reach the People Media podcast about his battle with depression. He talked about feeling down during high school, especially when adults yelled at him. It reminded him of his harsh childhood. But things changed, and he eventually became the confident player we see today.

Coach Prime was so impressed by Brown’s story that he shared it on his Instagram story, captioning it “Powerful Story.” It looks like Deion wants to share Brown’s message with the millions (approx. 280M) worldwide who are battling depression. Studies show that almost 40% of athletes struggle with these mental health issues.

Now, Brown was lucky to have the right people to support him. He got professional help and started therapy and medications when he was 18. “I was diagnosed with depression and generalized anxiety disorder,” he said. “Me back then could not imagine being at Colorado, actually loving football again,” Brown added emotionally.  Then he proudly summed his feelings, saying, “I got through that, I know I could leave home and go anywhere.”

It seems Deion probably knows a thing or two about such tough times. Sharing Tyler Brown’s story shows he understands what his players are going through. It’s even believed that Deion Sanders was in similar situations during his “Prime Time!”

Deion Sanders opens up about mental health struggles

Deion Sanders had it all in the ’90s, playing for both NFL and MLB. But even with all that success, he was going through a tough time. Sanders has been open about his struggles with depression with the public for a while now. He talked about a dark period when he was married to his first wife, Carolyn Chambers, in ’89. They divorced in 1998, and he lost custody of their kids, Deiondra and Deion Sanders Jr. Now, this was quite a heartbreaking experience for him at that point. “When I came out and told the world, this is what I was going through, this is what I was dealing with, they didn’t believe me,” he said.

Sanders has been candid about his mental health journey. He even talked about it during his book tour in March, saying he “was su***dal at one point.” But he was able to overcome those challenges with the help of his faith.

Since then, he’s been involved in programs that help athletes deal with mental health issues, like the Hall of Fame Behavioral Health Program. Sanders thus takes every right step to reduce the stigma around mental health.