Watch now: Rock Hill NFL stars to lead mental health talk for entire community
You can watch the discussion now — either by clicking at this link, or viewing the video below.
Why the event is happening
Perry Sutton thinks it’s time to speak up.
Sutton is a youth football coach for the Sylvia Circle Demons and has been for decades. It’s not an exaggeration to say that you can draw a line from Sutton to the NFL: The gregarious coach, who seems to have a story and nickname for every player he’s ever taught, has mentored a bulk of the players from Rock Hill who made it there, after all — guys like Chris Hope, Jadeveon Clowney and so many others who’ve given Rock Hill its “Football City USA” name and reputation.
But recently, Sutton has had too many tragic stories to tell. He’s seen four players he once coached die “too young” in the past two years, he said. Two of them died by suicide — one of whom was ex-NFL cornerback and Rock Hill High alum Phillip Adams, who died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound soon after being the gunman in a local mass shooting that reverberated throughout the country.
Sutton is not waiting to speak up about mental health anymore.
“Nothing is going to be settled or figured out until we have this conversation,” Sutton told The Herald in an interview earlier this week. “We’re in the process right now of healing. And this is a way for us to heal.”
On Saturday at 12:30 p.m., Sutton will help host a discussion on mental health. He’ll be joined by some of Rock Hill’s football greats — NFL past and present players like Hope, Thomas Davis Sr., DeVonte Holloman and others — as well as health professionals Ernest Brown and Dr. Joanna Jackson.
The panelists will be asked questions about their own experiences, many of which will likely deal with football and how the players transitioned into life after their football careers were over.
There’s no doubt that assembling this cast was an intentional move — particularly because these people are ambassadors to Rock Hill and heroes to so many local kids. Having them speak on a vulnerable topic like this will extend this conversation’s reach.
But the discussion will be inclusive of all people because the issue of mental health exists in every community, Sutton said.
“We all have run from this problem,” Sutton said. “We all have run from it. But I think we’re addressing it now, and it’ll open up a dialogue, and we’ll continue healing. Because we are healing. Everybody in this community is. And it’s affected everybody, I don’t care who you are.
“Our goal is to affect change, or at least give people something to think about.”
Holloman, a former Dallas Cowboy who’s now the head coach at his high school alma mater South Pointe, told The Herald that he hopes the discussion “opens someone’s eyes” to the issue.
He, like many, looked up to football players in the area and knows how impactful this conversation could be. The former Gamecock said he even grew up admiring co-panelist Chris Hope after hearing stories of Chris from Chris’s father — who Holloman only knew as “Mr. Hope” — who was a janitor at South Pointe when Holloman went to school there.
“People often make the stereotype of, just because you’re a man or you’ve played football that you don’t have these issues,” Holloman said, adding, “All you can ask in any situation when hoping for change is an open discussion.”
The event will be the first in a series of discussions this year, Sutton said. It’ll be live-streamed at the Rock Hill Operations Center. You’ll be able to find the video on The Herald’s website in this story.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. But Sutton said Saturday’s discussion will be rooted in more than that.
“I was told one time, ‘Coach, do you think it’s too soon? You know, (the mass shooting) just happened,’” Sutton recalled. “And I looked and I said, ‘I think I’m too late. I just lost four kids, two of them to suicide. So what is the number I should wait for us to get to before I do something?’ …
“I think we’re too late in doing this. I think it was a mistake that we didn’t do it sooner. But as with anything, as Dr. Jackson said, one of the things we need to let people know is there’s always a way back.”
Football City USA tackles mental health
When: Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
Streaming: With this story at heraldonline.com
Participants: Chris Hope, Thomas Davis Sr., DeVonte Holloman, Ernest Brown, Anthony Johnson, Roderick Byers, Najee Sutton, Perry Sutton, Dr. Joanna Jackson, Chris Miller (moderator)
This story was originally published May 5, 2021 at 1:39 PM.
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