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Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery says criticism from fantasy football players put him in a “dark place” and led to suicidal thoughts during his rookie season.
David Montgomery made this admission during an appearance this week on the fantasy football podcast, Fantasy Dirt, with Michael Fabiano and Lindsay Rhodes.
“When I was a rookie, I had a real, real stressful time in the league,” Montgomery revealed on the show. “I was at a point where I would have this suicidal thought and it was just a depression. It was just a depression. It was just a depression and a scary year for me. And unfortunately, the people in fantasy were kind of helping me be aided to feeling that way. And I was at a point where I was scared to live.”
“I was in a situation to where I was this close to doing something that I knew I shouldn’t have done, that would have changed the trajectory of my life or changed the trajectory of everybody else around me in my life,” Montgomery continued. “And my nephew called me right when I was in the midst of doing so. And he didn’t say anything about football. He didn’t say anything about how fast I was. He just said, ‘Uncle Dave, I miss you. How are you doing?’ And my nephew, and it meant so much to me, because my nephew, he has leukemia.
“And I was in a very dark place, a very dark place. And from that point on, hearing my nephew’s voice, I made a vow to myself and a promise to myself that I would never, ever allow anybody else to have that much control over my mind, my body to make me feel like I wasn’t worth anything or valued in a light to where I had a purpose on this Earth.”
David Montgomery also credits seeing a therapist for being a big help in maintaining a positive mental outlook.
Last year, Montgomery expressed how much the constant losing with the Chicago Bears during his first four years in the NFL (they went 25-41) also caused him to struggle mentally.
“That’s all I was used to,” Montgomery said on an episode of Lions Gaming. “And it got to a point where it sucked the fun out of the game for me because I’m a competitor. I like to compete. That’s what football’s about. It’s so refreshing to be in a place where that’s appreciated.”
In 2023, his first with Detroit, Montgomery had the second 1,000-yard rushing season of his career and the Lions went 12-5 with two more wins in the playoffs.
This year, he is again on pace to rush for 1,000 yards and the Lions, who take on the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, are 3-1, and it sounds like he is in a much better place.