Should Eagles Fans Be Worried About Brandon Brooks?
On November 27th, knowing the Philadelphia Eagles were set to host the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football, Eagles’ guard Brandon Brooks went to bed Sunday evening feeling healthy and ready to go. He awoke the next morning with severe vomiting and found himself on the inactive list for the game and the first time all season. Two weeks later, before a must win game against the Washington Redskins to keep Philadelphia’s playoffs hope alive, Brooks again found himself on the inactive list after waking up with similar symptoms, leaving Eagles fans and coaches wondering what was really going on.
On Wednesday, Brandon Brooks announced he was suffering from clinical anxiety, and the mental illness was the root cause for the stomach issues that forced him to miss two of the last three games.
This isn’t the first time Brooks has woken the morning of a game with severe vomiting. While a member of the Houston Texans—the team that drafted him 76th overall pick in 2012—he was forced to miss a game in both the 2014 and 2015 seasons with similar symptoms. “For the longest time, I thought it was an ulcer, something physical in my stomach. I didn’t know it could possibly be something else.” Brooks said while speaking to reporters on Wednesday.
Unfortunately for Brooks and many others, 18% of the United States population suffer from some form of anxiety, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA). That is an estimated 40 million people who suffer from the illness and even though it is a highly treatable disease, only one-third of those suffering from anxiety are actually receiving the treatment they need for it. Hopefully, Brandon Brooks can finally start getting the help he needs.
This isn’t the first time a professional Philadelphia athlete has suffered from a form of anxiety. On July 5th, 2013 the Philadelphia 76ers acquired Royce White, along with Furkan Aldemir, from the Houston Rockets for future considerations. A talented player in college, White declared for the 2012 NBA draft one year after leading the Iowa State Cyclones in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. With Houston selecting him 16th overall, expectations were high and White failed to live up to them.
However, White’s anxiety was a very severe case and could be attributed to why he never played in an NBA game during his rookie year. He spent the majority of the time on Houston’s inactive list as the Rockets worked on a way to deal with the big trigger for White’s anxiety, his fear of flying. As his ongoing frustrations with the organization mounted, he started ripping the Rockets’ front office on social media which attributed to him being moved after only one year with the team. His stint with the Sixers was also short lived, and after averaging just 5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists in five preseason games he was cut just three months after the trade. Even though Royce White never lived up to expectations, only playing in three career NBA games, he went on to create www.anxiousminds.org, a website to help educate and answer questions for people with anxiety.
While Royce White’s anxiety was well documented before he was drafted, a lot of players, similar to Brooks, don’t know they have the disease. In the 1998 NFL draft Donavon McNabb was famously booed when the Eagles announced him as their 2nd overall draft pick, but only because his name was not Ricky Williams. Eagles fans wanted the Heisman Trophy winner that ran for 2,124 yards and 27 touchdowns at the University of Texas, but fans didn’t know is he suffered from social anxiety, and neither did he.
After being selected three spots after McNabb by the New Orleans Saints, Ricky Williams couldn’t’ figure out why he never wanted to leave his house or do much of anything, but he was still able to produce some really impressive numbers. After rushing for 884 yards his rookie year he continued to improve, rushing for 1,000 yards in 2000 and 1,245 yards in 2001. After the 2001 season came to an end, Williams was diagnosed with social anxiety, failed his first drug test and then was traded to the Miami Dolphins. But once he started getting the help he needed, he rushed for a career best 1,853 yards in 2002 and it wasn’t until the 2005 season that he failed to eclipse the 1,000 rushing yard threshold, which largely had to do with his second failed drug test and four game suspension.
Eagles’ fans shouldn’t be concerned about Brandon Brooks not living up to his 5 year, $40 million contract he signed before the start of the 2016 season. Actually, so far this year he has lived up to if not exceeded expectations. Before his anxiety got so severe that it forced him to miss the Eagles’ week 12 game against the Packers, the Eagles’ offensive line was playing surprisingly well. Even without tackle Lane Johnson, the Eagles’ offensive line was ranked the 2nd best offensive line in the NFL coming into week 11 according to Pro Football Focus. Brandon Brook’s play was so good up to that point that PFF called Brandon Brooks “The standout performer on this unit” before citing that he has only allowed eight total pressures while run blocking well. Once he has a full offseason to unwind and treat his anxiety, he could very well turn out to be the teams’ best 2016 free agent signing.
Photo: Jeffery Beall (via: Wikimedia Commons)
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Categorized:Eagles