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.