Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant will check into rehab due to what his agent called a “depression issue.”
Bryant is facing a lengthy suspension for repeated violations of the NFL’s substance abuse policy, and one of his agents, Brian Fettner, told Tom Pelissero of USA Today Sports that Bryant will be seeking help.
“We’re all stunned, me included,” Fettner told USA Today. “We clearly miscalculated the issue. His isn’t a party issue. It’s a coping issue and a depression issue, and he’s got to take care of it.”
Fettner said that the suspension stems from multiple missed tests, not failed tests, thus explaining why the suspension went directly to a full year instead of ten games.
“This is the biggest cry for help I’ve ever seen. And that hurts. It hurts us to see,” Fettner said. “He’s 24 years old and he’s got to get right, whatever it is.
“If you talk to anybody’s family that has depression, they will be talking about these same things – the (despondence), the withdrawal, the head-in-the-sand despair – just trying to cope.”
It sounds like Bryant’s issues are significantly more serious than simple repeated marijuana use, though Fettner did concede that that was part of the issue. Hopefully he gets the help he needs so he can resume his football career and, much more importantly, get his life straightened out, whatever the issues may be.
