Everson Griffen’s mental health no laughing matter

The Vikings’ main concern for the pro-bowl defensive end is he’s back to being healthy.

Kolby Spomer
Staff Writer

Over the weekend, Minnesota Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen was placed in the care of mental health professionals after his wife and team officials deemed it necessary. 

Griffen has recently been slipping rapidly, leaving his house for extended periods of time, according to his wife, and then only coming home to verbally argue with her. 

At practice recently, he had been disruptive and extremely vocal, causing the team to ban him from practice altogether. The official interaction between Griffen and the police, after numerous calls and requests for intervention by law officials, is as follows:

“Everson was outside yelling. Officer Thompson and I approached Everson. Officer Thompson and I spoke to Everson. Everson was making comments about “777” and that he went to Wayne’s house because “God made me do it” and went on to say that there was a sign on the front door saying “welcome fall” so that’s why he went there. Paramedics were called to the home and Everson agreed to go to the hospital. However, on the way to the hospital, he “got up and jumped out of the ambulance because he was in fear that someone was going to shoot him.” 

The officers convinced him to get back in the ambulance and they escorted him to the hospital.

From this report, we can ascertain a few things, most notably that Griffen broke into fellow teammate Trae Wayne’s home. Why he did this is anyone’s guess, but it most likely has something to do with underlying mental health problems. 

In the past, a few mentions of Griffen’s bipolar depression has been made, but it was always told in a way that showed that he had control. What we are seeing now is someone spiral out of control.

Hopefully, this situation can bring about some good. First off, Griffen can get the help he so evidently needs. Due to his current profession as an NFL football player, he will have access to the best medical care possible. 

This then leads into my second hope, that mental health may be accessible to people in worse positions than Griffen. The health care situation in this country is its own thing, so my hope is that the Vikings partner together to help people like Griffen get the help they so desperately need. 

And finally, I hope that this turn of events sheds some light on how important the mental health is to a person. Griffen wasn’t sidelined with any sort of physical ailment, it was all mental. 

If the NFL wants to continue far into the future, and I hope they do because I love football, they must address situations like Griffens with the appropriate actions.

Feature photo courtesy of the Associated Press.