Posted on 09/12/2015 9:51:17 AM PDT by VanShuyten
The death Tuesday of former New York Giants safety and Super Bowl champion Tyler Sash left his family, friends and fans in a state of shock. Jeff Woody, an Iowa University alumnus who met Sash (a former University of Iowa player) on a “handful of occasions,” was just one of those people. The former college running back wrote a touching post on his blog Tuesday, which was later shared by the Des Moines Register.
Woody wrote about being an athlete and how having that as one's only identity can be dangerous. “If I identify myself as athlete and the sport is taken away from me, I am no longer me. I am no longer worthy to be myself. I have a hole where I used to be,” he said.
While Woody credits his wife, Hannah Woody, for allowing him to see his worth, he wished someone had done the same for Sash. “I was told what I'm worth. I just wish I was able to talk to Tyler now to tell him what he was as Tyler,” he said.
“My plea is that in the next encounter with an athlete of any level, ask them about their sport, sure. But ask them about what makes them who they are beyond sports.
Jeff Woody, a former Cyclone opponent of Sash, wrote a very insightful blog post on Tyler's death, but more importantly, on the problems of all people who find themselves suddenly without their roles. He talks about a player who gets cut, but he also talks about a father who loses a son, and others. It's a surprisingly good read, and something to think about as we all go through our lives.
http://jwoody32.blogspot.com/2015/09/tyler-sash-son-hawkeye-athlete.html
When I worked for Honeywell the average number of monthly retirement checks was 18. I knew men who retired healthy and then died. If you’d have asked them about themselves the first words would be, “I’m a (xxx) with Honeywell.” They identified with their roll in the company and with the company itself. That was their whole identity. It wasn’t unusual to attend a Saturday night party and find they were in their work clothes and wearing their badge despite not having been to work that day.
Sad, really. (This was in the ‘80’s and they were all 30 year employees.)
Only thing I’ve heard that’s not really been reported about Sash is that some fiends were lately concerned about his mental state.
Iowa Hawkeye fans are also mourning the passing of basketballer Roy Marble, Sr., form cancer.
I have had the pleasure of knowing some real warriors in my time, but none that I know of today that have committed suicide, but I am curious IF such a personal identity problem applies to any of those many suicides of our warriors we are reading about over the past years.
A reactionary thought induced by the article.
I do not like the whole “sympathy” thing for this guy. Others have been cut multiple times and either found another gig or kept trying to get back on a roster.
No loss of job is worth suiciding one’s self over it.
BTW I worked with a former NY Giant Superbowl winner WR Troy Kyles. His NFL career was like 2-3 years and with very limited playing time. He was in medical sales and his SB ring was often a topic of many discussions.
To determine this [your "role"], ask yourself- "Who am I?" The first answer is likely who you are most. It's what you define yourself as.
Another way to say it is, How do you answer the question, "What do you do?" or "What is your occupation?" I answer, "Mother."
It’s something every high school and college coach should tell their players.
This Game is not your life. It is but a small part of your life and the greatest things you do in your life should not be about this game.
I think this is the point of the essay:
“Woody wrote about being an athlete and how having that as one’s only identity can be dangerous.”
You can substitute pretty much any role for “athlete”, such as policeman, mother, pianist, to better understand what Jeff Woody is really talking about. For many, to lose that role can leave them without a feeling of self-worth. Woody says his wife helped him see that there was more to his life than his role as a Cyclone running back. While that might seem obvious to most of us, many of us, especially those who have invested our lives to become best in our specialties, have difficulties when that specialty is taken away.
That is true, but most people don’t commit suicide and punish their survivors because of their bad feelings about their lot in life.
There is the University of Iowa (the Hawkeyes) and there is Iowa STATE University (the Cyclones). But "Iowa University" is another name for the U of I, not Iowa State.
Sad, really. (This was in the ‘80’s and they were all 30 year employees.)
Same thing at Hughes Aircraft in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
The monthly company newsletter would have an obituary section and give ages. Lots (most?) passed away in one to three years of retiring.
10 - 1 says he was taking some type of psychotropic drug.
He got suspended from the Giants for taking adderall, even though he had a prescription for his ADHD, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he had other problems.
Yes, the death of this football player is sad, but the important point about this is made in Jeff Woody’s essay. It actually is only tangentialy concerned with the circumstances or causes of Sash’ death.
To believe your life is dependent on your specialty or your relationship, or any other one thing is dangerous. If you believe that, and then that one thing is taken away, then you might think your life is now empty. Woody points out that we all are made up of more than that one thing, so if that one thing is taken away, we still have all the other parts of our lives to fall back on.
He does say that those who are around such a person should help them see that.
I hate to take away Saturbray’s sermon, but I believe this is a good thing to talk about.
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