There’s likely no tougher position group in football than those playing the offensive line.
They are tasked with blocking the biggest and baddest players on the field. They must overcome injury. And above all, they must just get the job done – no excuses allowed.
But when Green Bay Packers rookie offensive lineman Cole Madison realized he was fighting a losing battle with his own mental health last summer, he found the courage to make the toughest decision possible: To step away from football and get help.
Madison shed some light on that battle while speaking with reporters Tuesday.
“This last year was really just focused on myself,” Madison said, via the team’s official site. “Not even football or nothing, just myself and my mental health and everything like that. I was dealing with a lot of things off the field for a long time that I was putting off, and it finally caught up to me, and I had to take care of that, make a grown-man decision. I did that, and then after that I decided I wanted to come back and play some football. So that’s why I’m here.”
A fifth-round pick of the Packers last year, Madison was in Green Bay and participated fully in the team’s offseason workout program in the spring. But when it came time to report to training camp in late July, Madison was a no-show. He was placed on the did not report list and missed his entire rookie season.
Madison said he doesn’t regret the decision. In fact, stepping away from football to concentrate on himself might have helped save his life.
“I love football, but at that point it was my health, and my life was on the line,” Madison said. “I had to go help myself before my football career. If I didn’t get my chickens in order back then, I don’t think I’d be here right now.”
Madison revealed that the suicide of former teammate and friend Tyler Hilinski was the “beginning step of a wake-up call” for him and his own mental health. It was the realization of his own “demons” that led Madison to step away from football.
The Packers supported Madison’s decision throughout the entire process. And they welcomed him back with open arms when he reported for the team’s offseason workout program last month.
Now, it’s time to get a do-over on his rookie season, with a clear mind and a tough year in the rear-view mirror.
