As the NFL season marches rapidly into Week 8, players, coaches, and league personnel continue to deal with challenges.

Some of those challenges aren’t often shared publicly, but the recent increased focus on mental health has allowed a safe space for players to divulge what they’ve been going through. Second-year Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Willie Gay Jr. sent out a cryptic tweet earlier this month that opened some eyes to the daily struggles of NFL players and shed light on an ongoing issue.

I love you all just know my mental health is F’d up

— Willie Gay Jr. (@WillieG___) October 8, 2021

Gay recently spoke about the tweet, discussing his struggles with mental health. He shared with reporters that he’s had issues that have dated back to high school and college.

“I was going through some things in life, and people think these NFL players are bulletproof or whatever,” Gay told reporters on Saturday. “We were taught growing up to hold it in, just go on about your day and keep distractions away, but sometimes – I got to the point where I was like I can’t shake this, and I had to tell my coaches, I had to tell people that I work with. That’s when I Tweeted it, and it was just a lot weighing on me at the time. I just had my baby boy, he’s finally here, doing good, and it was just a lot going on at the time. Sometimes you just have to let that stuff out so you can move on.”

Gay has dealt with injury this season and is just working his way back to full health. That alone can be a huge challenge and stressor for a player. But even when everything is going right on the field, that doesn’t mean players aren’t dealing with other things.

“Coming to the NFL, man, people think everything’s perfect,” said Gay. “You’ve got a little money or you play Sunday, you just have to stay humble and let people know, ‘I’m still human at the end of the day.’ I still have feelings. I still get angry. I still get stressed. I can [make] 10 tackles and still be stressed. You’ve just got to be sure you balance it out, man.”

While Gay still has an ongoing battle with his mental health, his tweet was met with support from Chiefs teammates and personnel.

“Everybody was texting me,” said Gay. “Everybody was checking in on me from coaches to training staff, equipment staff, of course, all my teammates just making sure I was good when I was here. They know me well. They know when I’m having one of those days, and I feel like I’m a guy that when I’m having a good day, you’re going to know, and when I’m not, you can definitely tell. But they did a real good job with just keeping me on the right track and helping me out. A simple ‘you good bro?’ it goes a long way, and they did a real good job with that.”

Gay Jr’s situation reminds us that it doesn’t matter what level of success you achieve in life, everyone still needs proper emotional support and understanding.