A pal of mine, a big-city newspaper guy, suffers from depression. I would've never guessed. He seemed so successful, so respected, so in control, so personally fulfilled. It's been going on 20 years.
I must pay closer attention.
Terry Bradshaw was battered by depression for most of his adult life, but all we saw was an extremely blessed jock. Quarterback of four Super Bowl champions. Rich. Famous. Pro Football Hall of Famer. TV star.
Sundays during the NFL season, old No. 12 is paid big money to spout opinions and be a cut-up alongside Jimmy Johnson, Howie Long and James Brown on Fox's NFL studio show.
But for more than 30 years there was an agonizing secret. Bradshaw was being flogged by depression. He hesitated to let outsiders know, worrying about being "made to look like a laughingstock."
Bradshaw is okay now. Successfully medicated. "Glad it's all out in the open," he said. Bradshaw works at helping others who suffer. He talks of being desperately low when all the world saw him as being on a nonstop high.
Bradshaw told the Arizona Republic that, despite his 1970s glory ride with the Steelers, he "felt like an outsider." We did know that Bradshaw's life was abundant with turbulence. He has thrice married.
But depression? A shocker.
His ultimate scare came Jan. 31, 1999, when Terry was covering Super Bowl week. He went jogging with a buddy. Bradshaw's heart began racing. Fluttering. His head was violently spinning. "I was sure I was dying," he recalled.
That episode pushed Bradshaw into seeking treatment. Being put on anti-depression medications. "It was so bad," he said, "I was never satisfied. Irritable. I had a mean, hateful streak. Even in my brightest moments, I would see a dark side."
It's good stuff to have Bradshaw talking about it, so others with depression might feel less alone. Asked to describe his lousy moments, the Pittsburgh icon said, "It's when you can't stop crying. You hate everybody. You hate your life. You can fool a lot of people when it's going on, but you can't really fool yourself."
Wow!
Bradshaw, at 54, says he is "totally, 100 percent happy. I don't wake up crying." Having come out of his nosedive, Bradshaw works at helping others. Becoming a different kind of hero.
Since going public he has received hundreds of letters from people affected by depression, saying things such as, "You saved our marriage," or "You saved my life."
Eyes wide open, we can miss so much.
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Whatever happened to Vince Coleman?
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SNACKS: Anybody who snubs USC and considers the LSU-Oklahoma winner as any sort of national champion should have "BCS FRAUD" tattooed on his forehead. ... Richard Petty wisdom: "There are two times that an athlete is reluctant to retire: when he's on top, and when he's not." ... Fresh talent must produce if SEC basketball is to retain high status, with 29 of 60 starters gone from last season's 12 teams. Graduation, defections, dropouts and premature leaps to the NBA cost Kentucky, Florida and associates eight of the league's top 10 scorers, seven of the top 10 assist men and four of the top five rebounders. ... As for the Petty philosophy, former NASCAR star Darrell Waltrip, now a popular Fox-TV commentator, refers to himself as a "recovering racer."
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OL' 98'S NO. 1 SON: E-mail from Dorena Thurson says, "My husband claims Mark Harmon, star of Navy NCIS and my favorite TV star, played college football and that his dad might've won the Heisman Trophy. Any truth to that? I was told you have been around long enough to know."
That's me, Dorena, the galloping graybeard. I remember Mark as UCLA's starting quarterback for two seasons. He graduated cum laude in communications, class of 1974. Tom Harmon, his pop, was a legend at Michigan, known as Ol' 98. No, I wasn't around to write about the elder Harmon. Heisman winner in 1940, then a network sportscaster, he died at 70 in 1990 of a heart attack.
There's more glitz: Mark's mom, Elyse Knox, was a B-film actor who in 1942 starred opposite Lon Chaney Jr. in The Mummy's Tomb. Mark is married to actor Pam Dawber. They have two sons. His sister, Kristen Nelson, was married to child actor and rock 'n' roll singer Ricky Nelson.
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THE LAST WORD: His voice is raspy, but Hubert Green's heart is strong. Given a 35 percent chance of recovering from throat cancer, the Florida State fellow who won a U.S. Open is fiesty again and eager to return to competitive golf on the Champions Tour.
"There's still pain when I swallow, so eating solid food has been a challenge," the native of Alabama and resident of Panama City Beach told the Birmingham News. "I got so skinny and weak, I tried hitting my 3-wood and could barely manage 190 yards."
Steve Spurrier, self-exiled coach and an old Gator, helped Green line up treatment at Shands at the University of Florida, Gainesville. "My doctors are Gator fans," Green said, "but they can't help that. Boy, did they come through for me."
