Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire is using his platform to spread awareness about his own mental health struggles.
The 25-year-old first turned to X to announce that he’s been battling post traumatic stress disorder.
“Living With PTSD is no small feat, its hard and very overwhelming,” he wrote on Monday. “Within the last month Ive Had many flare ups and the Amazing staff here at the #Chiefs have been helping me get through some tough times. I’ll be back rolling next Practice! All Love , Glydro.”
On Thursday while speaking with Kansas City media, Edwards-Helaire opened up further about his struggles not related to the field.
Edwards-Helaire said that the “majority” of his reactions are rooted in a November 2018 robbery that he and LSU teammate Jared Hall thwarted, but also from his upbringing in Louisiana.
“I have best friends that passed away at young ages from gun violence and just not being in the right places at the right time and just knowing that I have people that are close to me or around me who … could be in the same spots that I am,” Edwards-Helaire said , according to ESPN.
Edwards-Helaire was a star in Baton Rouge and a major catalyst to the Tigers’ perfect 15-0 season in 2019, a year in which he finished with 1,867 scrimmage yards and 17 total touchdowns.
Nevertheless, Edwards-Helaire — the 32nd overall pick in 2020 — accomplished those feats and transitioned to the pro ranks with PTSD lingering and even manifesting physically.
“Sometimes I’m admitted into the hospital, something like I can’t stop throwing up and it’s just, I [don’t] know [anything] pretty much to stop it,” Edwards-Helaire said.
The 5-foot-7 runner also noted that teammates can recognize when he’s not behaving as he usually does.
“Real bad dehydration … but it’s really just mentally just not being there,” Edwards-Helaire commented. “It is one of those things where early on guys who kind of pay attention like Travis [Kelce] and Kadarius [Toney], at times they can even, they’ll know ahead of time like, ‘OK, Clyde’s not laughing, he’s not giggling, he’s not himself.'”
Edwards-Helaire began his career strongly with 1,100 scrimmage yards and five total scores as a rookie, but his role has since diminished due to the emergence of budding star Isiah Pacheco.
Across the last three years, Edwards-Helaire has totaled just 1,510 scrimmage yards and 14 touchdowns, not breaking more than 517 rushing yards in a season.
Ahead of the 2024 campaign — in which “CEH” will play on a one-year deal worth $1.7 million with the defending two-time champions — the running back is hopeful that talking candidly can reduce the stigma for others.
“My first couple of years, you just try to block everything out and it’s like, ‘Oh, at some point I’m going to get over it,'” Edwards-Helaire said. “And you start to realize that that just doesn’t happen. You get older and you realize, ‘Hey, no matter the age, no matter the person, no matter the situation, everyone needs help at some point.’ It takes courage to talk about it and having PTSD and dealing with it once people kind of bring it up, it is not something that I’d always want to talk about.”
