Calvin Ridley stepped away from the NFL to focus on his mental health midway through the 2021 season, and the star wide receiver has opened up about what led to that decision. One factor was a foot injury that was a lot more serious than it seemed.
Ridley wrote a lengthy piece for The Players’ Tribune in which he called gambling on football “the worst mistake of my life.” He said he did so during a time in which he was battling depression and looking to get through each day any way he could. Ridley said things got really bad for him during the 2020 season, when he played on a broken foot without knowing it.
Ridley explained that he had played through bone spurs in his first two years of the NFL. He realized in Week 8 during the 2020 season that something was different and thought his foot was broken. He underwent an MRI and was diagnosed with a bone bruise, so he “took Toradol shots every Sunday” and continued to suit up.
The Falcons finished 4-12 and cleaned house with their coaching staff, front office and trainers. Ridley said the new head trainer sent him to a specialist, and he was diagnosed with a broken foot almost immediately.
“I was devastated,” Ridley wrote. “It was only two months before the start of the season, and now you’re telling me it’s broken? You gotta remember — I was the No. 1 guy now with Julio (Jones) gone. I was under so much pressure to be out there. I got the surgery and rushed back, but I showed up to camp just mentally drained. I still couldn’t plant without painkillers.”
Ridley said that is when his anxiety really reached a level that was difficult to manage. Then, after Atlanta’s Week 1 game, he and his wife and daughter returned home to find that his house had been robbed. Valuables were taken by several armed men, which Ridley says “traumatized” his wife after she saw the security footage. He stepped away not long after.
Ridley emphasized that it was his choice to play through injuries and that he does not blame the Falcons for anything. He also said he is back in a good place mentally and loves football “maybe now more than ever.” The former Alabama star boldly predicted that, if he’s healthy, he will have at least 1,400 yards next season with Trevor Lawrence throwing to him.
An NFL investigation determined that Ridley wagered on NFL games during a five-day period in November 2021. He was suspended for the entire 2022 season but officially reinstated earlier this week.
