Back in April, Dak Prescott’s brother, Jace, died by suicide at the age of 31. And in a recent interview with Graham Bensinger, the Cowboys quarterback opened up about his brother’s death and how Dak has battled depression over the past few months.
Just as other prominent athletes — like Kevin Love and Michael Phelps — have made the important decision to speak out about mental health and depression, Prescott deserved to be commended for his willingness to show vulnerability and address issues that face millions of people daily.
Fox Sports personality Skip Bayless, however, saw it otherwise.
In Thursday’s edition of Undisputed, Bayless criticized Prescott for admitting that he battled depression, raising a ridiculous concern that doing so showed a lack of leadership.
I have battled depression for my entire life, and it is a silent killer.
Luckily, I’m still standing, but many don’t make it through.
This is a woefully insensitive and horrible take by Skip Bayless.
— John Ellis (@OnePantherPlace) September 10, 2020
What it really showed, though, was a complete lack of empathy from Bayless. He said:
“I’m going to ask our audience to go ahead and condemn me, if you choose, as cold-blooded and insensitive on this issue. I have deep compassion for clinical depression. But when it comes to the quarterback of an NFL team, you know this better than I do, it’s the ultimate leadership position in sports. You are commanding an entire franchise. … But you’re commanding a lot of young men and some older men. And they’re all looking to you to be their CEO, to be in charge of the football team. Because of all that, I don’t have sympathy for him going public with ‘I got depressed. I suffered depression early in COVID to the point where I couldn’t even go workout.’ Look, he’s the quarterback of America’s Team.”
Bayless asked his audience to condemn him for what he was about to say, and, well, the audience obliged.
Dak Prescott basically said: I'm a human being, I can be vulnerable at times. It's been a really hard year for me, & I want to normalize mental wellness & admitting when we aren't OK.
And Skip Bayless basically said: nah, toxic masulinity is the way for me b/c football.
Clown.
— David Helman (@HelmanDC) September 10, 2020
What Skip said about Dak Prescott isn’t just problematic, it’s also incredibly dangerous.
We can’t perpetuate the idea that because someone is a “leader” they aren’t allowed to feel extreme emotions or have battles with their mental health. We have to get rid of the stigma.— Taylor Rooks (@TaylorRooks) September 10, 2020
Dak Prescott had the courage to speak openly about his depression and Skip Bayless outright dismissed it, going as far to say it weakens his leadership qualities.
This is completely unacceptable @Undisputed pic.twitter.com/CRDprKXm3Z
— Carter Donnick (@CDonnick3) September 10, 2020
So dak Prescott got depressed following his brothers apparent suicide this year and skip bayless response is basically saying “ shut up and play football this is America’s team “ bruh … pic.twitter.com/AH3mzCePgD
— John (@iam_johnw) September 10, 2020
What Skip Bayless said today is the reason why there’s a stigma about depression. It’s the reason why people are afraid to open up.
Don’t listen to him.
It takes so much strength to open up about depression, like Dak Prescott did. It’s OK to not be OK. It’s OK to get help.
— Joseph Hoyt (@JoeJHoyt) September 10, 2020
You really just said it’s ok to be depressed unless your the QB for the Dallas Cowboys…please do better as a human @RealSkipBayless
— Cameron Magruder (@ScooterMagruder) September 10, 2020
Don't listen to Skip Bayless about depression, or anything else for that matter.
— Levi Weaver (@ThreeTwoEephus) September 10, 2020
Another day, another garbage Skip Bayless take
— Hemal Jhaveri (@hemjhaveri) September 10, 2020
Bayless has basically made a career out of broadcasting his terrible opinions to the point that people tune in to watch him, but what he said there was as insensitive a remark as he’s ever made.
Prescott is human. He faces human struggles. Dismissing that struggle shows how Bayless sees athletes as mere props for his entertainment and discussion.
He was rightfully called out for it.
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