Philadelphia EaglesPro Bowl guard Brandon Brooks left Sunday's loss to the Seattle Seahawks with what the team initially termed an "illness."
It was much more than Brooks being sick. One of the best offensive linemen in the NFL deals with anxiety issues. Sunday, that condition forced him from the tilt.
After Jeff McLane of the Philly Inquirer reported Sunday night the extent of Brooks' anxiety, the 30-year-old took to Twitter to further explain the struggle he fights through daily.
Kudos to Brooks for being open about his struggle, which affects many on a daily basis.
Often we think of professional athletes, and especially football players, as warriors and gladiators made of iron wills with no discernable weakness. It's a comically false narrative. NFL players are humans just like the rest of us, dealing with normal mortal hurdles. The more we hear first-person accounts like Brooks', the more that fact becomes accepted, and the easier it is for players to seek the help they need. Thousands of people deal with anxiety daily.
Perhaps hearing an athlete at the top of his game like Brooks goes through the same can help them through their day as well.