After hanging up his cleats and, as Chuck Noll would say, moving on with life’s work, former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Mundy faced a problem most athletes encounter. What do I do with the rest of my life?
Appearing on the Blueprint Connect Podcast, Mundy opened up about the mental health issues he faced after retiring from the NFL following the 2015 season.
“After I ended my career at the age of 31, I was dealing with all those conditions that I talked about. Stress, anxiety, depression, identity issues,” Mundy told the show. “Trying to figure out who and what I was when I couldn’t tackle somebody.”
It’s a dilemma many athletes have to overcome. Their life and identity is rooted in sports. Playing football at a young age, throughout high school, college, and then the NFL. And Mundy, to his credit, played longer than most who get a shot in the league do. Drafted in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft out of West Virginia, Mundy was the hometown kid who played his high school ball at Woodland Hills.
He spent five full seasons with Pittsburgh, appearing in 64 games, making 131 tackles, and picking off one pass. He spent another two full seasons playing in the league, 2013 with the New York Giants and 2014 with the Chicago Bears, before a hip injury landed him on IR for 2015. He was never a star and made his share of mistakes, but lasting that long in a league where the average lifespan is 3-4 years is an impressive feat. Shortly after retiring, he also acknowledged concerns over CTE was one reason why he left the game.
Mundy credits his time in Pittsburgh for helping frame his post-retirement mindset. In particular, one message Mike Tomlin sent stuck with him the most.
“He said, ‘football is not who you are. It’s what you do.’ That statement really, really resonated with me and throughout my professional career. As an athlete, I was taking advantage of those opportunities to really develop myself.”
These days, Mundy is the owner of Alkeme Health as he helps others get well, just as he did. Mundy told the show he’s also focusing on helping former athletes make their transition out of sports to lessen their struggle and burden. He found a purpose after football, something not every ex-player is able to do. And he is helping a much larger team than he did on Sundays.
Again, check out the entire interview by clicking the link here.
