Please answer on a scale of 10 how you feel today. Like, TRUE Feeling?
Because Brandon Marshall wants to know.
he doesn’t have to listen he doesn’t need to care. As a wide receiver in the Pro Bowl, he made six appearances, Estimated $80 million Over 13 seasons in the NFL gave him the freedom to focus on himself. He retired comfortably at his age of 38 and was able to devote resources solely to his family of four. Knowing that his name was already inscribed in the record book made him feel at ease.
But that side of Brandon Marshall’s life is no more.
“Ever since I was six years old, I’ve always had a dream and a vision to be in the National Football League,” Marshall told CBS Sports. “And everything was selfish. It was me, me, me, me, me. It was my goal, what I wanted. My contract. My stats.”
In 2011, at the height of his playing career, everything changed after a series of off-field arrests. Diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. He vowed to seek the care he needed. He found a new identity through Christianity. And he discovered his purpose, not just as an athlete, but as a person.
“[That] I’m here when I realize that I’m here to advance the gospel and bring others along,” he explains. This whole mental health thing…is my ministry. ”
no one claims it. Since revealing his diagnosis more than a decade ago, Marshall has increasingly flaunted his vulnerabilities while advocating for the well-being of others. , which prioritizes raw perspectives and in some ways models the transparency of therapy sessions. And his House of Athlete initiative, HOA+ Holistic Training Programgoes one step further.
“HOA is a new treatment,” says Marshall. “It’s a new therapist’s office. That’s what we’re doing here….As a professional athlete, when I walked into the Jets and Giants locker room, everything was integrated. My nutritionist was here….my strength and conditioning ‘coach was across the hall. There was a mental health practitioner in the building. was there.”
Marshall’s goal in creating HOA+, which provides one-on-one live coaching, is not to overload you with a checklist. It’s about prioritizing the right things, like making space for focused efforts like exercise and meditation in a distracted world.
“The way I’ve been trained, the way I’ve been coached, the way I’ve been taught – the structure, the lifestyle, the routine – what it is. [this] I mean, it’s routine,” he says. It leans towards fundamentals, thanks to routine. Every day I have an itinerary.when i came in [locker rooms], from 8 am to 6 pm was planned for me. when are you working out? when do you eat? When is the meeting with the coach? When will I see this doctor, that doctor? When to enter the hot tub or cold tub? … now that I’m not performing on the football field, my lifestyle, you [wanna] Take it and give it to the masses. ”
However, the endgame is not just about self-improvement. It’s changing the people around you in a positive way.
“I think our starting point is knowing that strength is asking your brothers for help,” says Marshall. “A strength is being able to show vulnerability. Often we internalize these things and don’t share them.”
It just so happens that Marshall’s HOA+ was released a few days before Martin Luther King Jr. Day. But Dr. King, in particular, has long served as an inspiration for pass catchers because of his civic spirit through the faith that changed his own life. Few community leaders have been so publicly vulnerable and consequently culturally influential.
“I live the dream,” explains Marshall. [shows] Dread today. I’m living my dream because I can speak the same way – whether I’m in front of a coach, in front of an executive, or in front of a TV producer, just like I talk to my friends. , I can talk like I am at home.. I’m living the dream because Martin Luther King stood up and marched and fought for us. ”
and now? Marshall’s dream is to continue to infuse his own story and his own resources into the community.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” he says. “I think we need to be bold, make no excuses, share our experiences and keep sharing our stories….the biggest thing I would like to see is.. invest in each other. am.”
Sometimes it’s as easy as asking a question and really caring about the answer. how are you feeling today?
