I’ll See you again, on this side or the other.
Monday night I heard the news that former Gamecock star receiver Kenny McKinley had killed himself. I certainly didn’t know him. I only ever attended two games he played in. But it still hit me very hard. Next will come the “Why’s” followed by the fights between people who call it selfish and “the easy way out” and the ones that understand depression and pain. Then what I hope to see will be people taking depression more seriously. A high-profile suicide for a person so commonly known for being upbeat and happy, will hopefully help to shed light on the fact that it can happen to anyone.
My other hope is continued research into the damage that playing football is doing to players’ brains. This another example in a string of suicides or strange behavior that lead to death of football players in recent years, and in each case the player was found to have had significant football related head injuries. I have played, watched and loved football all of my life, but I’d drop it in hot minute if its found to be causing this kind of thing.
Good luck K-Mac, I hope you find peace.
