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Grey Cup champ shares mental health story

Shea Emry sees himself as the first step in helping people deal with mental illness.
web1_170315-PWN-T-Shea-Emry

Shea Emry sees himself as the first step in helping people deal with mental illness.

The retired two-time Grey Cup champion was in Penticton and shared his story during the Healthy Living Fair at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre on March 11.

“They just kind of want someone to speak about it with,” said Emry, of the feedback he receives during his speaking events. “That’s why I do it. I want to be an open platform for people to kind of reach out and be that first step. It’s the courage to step out of your comfort zone and tell someone what you are going through.”

Emry, who won championships in the Canadian Football League with the Montreal Alouettes, talked about growing up in a home with war veterans where he experienced child abuse. Emry said it wasn’t necessarily about being repressed. It was what he saw that made his home a toxic environment. It didn’t empower him to speak up to his parents about what he was feeling.

“What it made me do was put that football mask on and shut up,” Emry told the crowd. “Show up every day and put that mask on and make sure that I put my best foot forward. No one would ever find out that I had these experiences. No one would ever think that I was weak or wasn’t man enough.”

Emry, happily married with two children, said the healthiest part of his story is when he reached the top of his game as a linebacker. He was named an all-star in 2012 and was Defensive Player of the Year Runner-Up and Canadian Player of the Year Runner-Up. “I had reached the pinnacle of success in my sport. I was starting, I was happy,” he said to the crowd. “It’s a good time. a 23-year-old guy.”

“ I was on TSN every day and then it was taken away. I got a really bad concussion in 2011. The year after we won our second grey cup. Essentially what took place is I used this mask my entire life. I used this outlet my entire life to express myself. To ventilate my system. To get that shit off my chest. I was able to go out every single day. What took place is I had this identity that was wrapped up in football. When I was a young boy and dealing with it the way that I did, which was using sports as an outlet that was my only way of being. I didn’t expose myself to all these other aspects of persepective.”

Suffering a concussion in 2011 that kept him out for the remainder of the season is when Emry found himself battling his past. On his website, Don’t Change Much, he stated in 2012 is when he was inspired to use his platform as a pro athlete to share his story with youth. His work resulted in him winning the Jake Gaudaur Veteran’s Trophy, a distinction appointed to the individual who most exemplifies the values of Canada’s Veterans.

Emry, the keynote speaker of the Balancing Our Minds Youth Summit in Penticton on March 10, talked about men having to share their experiences. Asking the question, am I man enough?

“Do I fit within that thought perspective,” he asked. “We’ve been told our entire lives and the question is, yeah … we can be whoever we want to be. That’s what the youth are now teaching us. That’s what is empowering too.”

What Emry said made an impact on Anne Marie Krenger, who sat in on the final half of the speech.

“It’s really good what he is doing. Sometimes people just need a group where they can go and talk,” said Krenger. “Or certain activities that can be an outlet for people for their own issues.

“I think it’s important for man and boys too to be able to open up and talk about things,” she continued. “Not being viewed as you’re not a man, man up. We need to be just a little more neutral and opened minded.”

Emry, who played half a game for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2015 and retired last year due to concussions, said every crowd and event he does is different.

“I feel like the ability to kind of run on the fly and make changes and be adaptable is one of the most important aspects of being someone that gets up in front of people and shares my story and tries to do it in an impactful way,” said Emry, who talked to the crowd about their happy place and the importance of having one. “At the end of the day, when people come up to me and they share a similar story, they have a loved one that is going through something different, they find a connection in some way. It inspires them to do something about it. That’s really what keeps me going and enables me to do this stuff. Not only because I love it, but also because selfishly I am inspired to do more of it because of when I get those responses.”