Yahoo Finance Eagles OL Brandon Brooks opens up about anxiety, which forced his exit from Seahawks game
Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Brandon Brooks is opening up to fans and sharing his ongoing battle with anxiety with the public.
Brooks left Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks in the first quarter, with illness being the given reason at the time. Head coach Doug Pederson didn’t have any new info during the postgame news conference, and Brooks was not in the locker room following the Eagles’ 17-9 loss.
Team sources told Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer that Brooks’ anxiety had forced him from the game, which Brooks confirmed in a brave and honest tweet he posted on Monday morning.
— Brandon Brooks (@bbrooks_79) November 25, 2019
As Brooks said in his tweet, he’s been dealing with anxiety — an issue that affects many people both in and out of professional sports — for years. He missed two games in 2016 after suffering anxiety attacks just before kickoff, but had gotten his symptoms under control over the past few years.
Brooks discussed his anxiety in detail in a recent NFL Films piece, and how his quest for absolute perfection on the field is a contributing factor.
Brooks, 30, has been having a great season after tearing his Achilles 10 months ago, and recently signed a four-year, $56.2 million extension with the Eagles. Even though he’s been open about his struggles with anxiety, it can’t be easy for him to acknowledge a setback that caused him to exit a game.
Pederson and the team fully support Brooks, which Pederson discussed on Philadelphia sports talk station 94WIP on Monday. Via NBCSports Philadelphia:
“I’ll just say this, I’m not going to get into a lot of detail with that. Because, listen, this is a real life issue. This is not a football issue with Brandon. This is a real life issue that he has come out and publicly acknowledged and kind of shared his story a few years back. It’s something that he’s dealing with each and every day of his life. You never really know what triggers it. We’re here to support him, we love him. It is unfortunate that it happened, but it’s something that he deals with every single day. We’re just going to continue to support him."
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