Fox Sports analyst Skip Bayless is under intense scrutiny this week following his comments about Dallas Cowboys star Dak Prescott after one of the NFL’s fastest-rising quarterback acknowledged his brother’s suicide and said he’s had his own bouts with depression. Fox Sports released a statement saying Bayless’ remarks were insensitive and did not align with the network’s views on mental health.
In response, Prescott would be a « fake leader » if he wasn’t open about mental health issues and the terror that can persist without speaking up.
« I think being a leader is about being genuine and being real, » Prescott said during a news conference on Thursday. « If I wouldn’t have talked about those things to the people I did I wouldn’t realize that I, my fiends and a lot more people go through them, and they are as common as they are. I don’t think for one second leaders are not, and no matter how big of a person you are, if you’re not mentally healthy.
« If you’re not thinking the right way then you’re not going to be able to lead people the right way. So, before I can lead, I got to make sure my mind’s in the right place to do that, and lead people to where they want to me. I think it’s important to be vulnerable, to be genuine, to be transparent. I think that goes a long way when you’re a leader and when your voice is being heard by so many, and you can inspire. »
« Because of all that, I don’t have sympathy with him going public that ‘I got depressed. I suffered depression early in COVID to the point that I couldn’t even go work out,' » Bayless said this week on Undisputed. « Look, he’s the quarterback of America’s Team. You know and I know, this sport that you play, it is dog eat dog. It is no compassion. No quarter given on the football field.
« If you reveal publicly any little weakness, it can affect your team’s ability to believe in you in the toughest spots and it definitely could encourage others on the other side to come after you. »
Prescott’s brother, Jace, took his own life in April, which led to dark days for the Dallas signal caller.
« I’ll never get another hug in my life like the ones he gave,” Dak said of Jace. “He was my best friend.”
« I want to reiterate some points I made yesterday on the show about Dak Prescott and the depression he discussed, » Bayless said on his Fox Sports morning show. « As I strongly stated, I have great compassion for anyone suffering clinical depression, which is very real. If you are suffering from any form of depression, please seek help. And this is the final point, one I’m told was misconstrued by many: The only Dak depression I addressed on yesterday’s show was from an interview he taped with Graham Bensinger.
« Dak said that depression happened soon after the pandemic hit, early in the quarantine. I said yesterday, that if Dak needed help for pandemic depression, he should have sought counseling then. And again if you are suffering from any form of depression, please seek help. »
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