When congratulating his teammate Lane Johnson for his Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year nomination, Jason Kelce spoke passionately about the strength of Lane Johnson’s character. If you’ve seen the video, you understand why it quickly went viral. If you haven’t, I encourage you to watch it.
Lane’s steadfast commitment to advocating for mental health services, reducing stigma, and increasing awareness of mental health services and wellbeing is inspirational. But as Jason Kelce pointed out, Lane is doing more than raising money or sitting on the sidelines. When Lane shares his lived experiences with anxiety and depression, it is nothing short of remarkable.
Young people are facing an unprecedented mental health crisis, a hard truth that becomes more clear with every passing year. This is the fight of a generation. As young people know intimately, living authentically can feel tiring. It can feel embarrassing. It can feel risky. When they hear firsthand that their suffering doesn’t need to remain shadowed, but that even the strongest and toughest among us have been low and asked for help to get back up.
Today, public private partnerships are working together to quickly provide young people access to effective mental health services. But just creating the pathways to help won’t be enough. Lane is showing, not just telling, young people that help is there. And that they just need to reach for it.
Over the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing more about the work Kooth is doing in Pennsylvania and beyond. The response to Kooth’s services has been incredible - from parents, teens, educators, and government representatives. But, for now, I’ll say this: Lane Johnson’s influence is just beginning.
We thank Lane for his partnership, for using his platform for the greater good, and for inspiring us all to keep fighting for the health and well-being of young people today