Ryan Day has succeeded in his tryst with proving his skeptics wrong. Ending Ohio State’s decade-long national championship drought by bringing the hardware back to this storied blueblood. But the path to glory was treacherous, and one juncture tested his resolve and mettle more than any. Losing to Michigan for a 4th straight time was brutal, very brutal. In a morbidly candid revelation, Coach Day even likened this recurrent adversity to a chapter from his past that you’d think transcends far beyond losing a mere game of football. “It’s one of the worst things that’s happened to me in my life, quite honestly – other than losing my father,” he’d said. Fast forward to the present day, and Ryan Day has mustered the power to speak intricately about what happened and how. Hoping his story can serve a very novel purpose.
Ryan Day’s father, Raymond Day, took his own life when Ryan was 9 years old. For him to rise above this tragedy and become the successful man he has become, both professionally and personally, is commendable. While Coach Day hasn’t shied away from discussing his father’s suicide in the past, certain boundaries have remained solid and intact. He has never really been confronted about it by the media, as you’d expect.
Respecting his privacy in what is otherwise a very public-facing job as head coach. But oftentimes you’re presented with the perfect opportunity to speak up. Ryan Day realizes how much weight his voice holds. And how propagating his experience to the masses can help somebody out there who needs to hear it. So in the midst of Mental Health Awareness Month, he has vocalized his POV of Raymond Day’s passing.
Ryan Day addressed a crowd of people at an event organized by Impact60 to raise awareness about mental health. In a video posted to their namesake YouTube channel, he prefaced his monologue by mentioning how he believes it’s his responsibility as a leader and figurehead in the Ohio community to show vulnerability. Which in turn will aid in eliminating the prejudice and partisan stigma around mental health. Coach Day then walked the audience through the exact events in the aftermath of his father’s death.
“When I was nine years old…I was home one day after school [and] the police showed up at the house. My father had passed away. Well, what I didn’t know was how it happened. So for about a year, I thought it was an accident. And then I found out about a year later that he’d taken his life,” he began.
Despite the dark and challenging theme, Ryan Day continued to revisit his emotions. “For a young, young person, there’s just so many things going through your mind. You realize that if somebody isn’t telling you what happened, there’s shame surrounding what happened. And then you have to pick up the pieces afterwards to try to figure out what would force your father to do something like that. Leave three young kids around,” he said.
Ryan Day touched upon how in his and his wife’s hometown of Manchester, New Hampshire, nobody would talk about his father or mental health in general. A stigma that is a product of its time but, unfortunately, is still prevalent. “During my youth, I went through a lot of confusion trying to understand why my father would do that,” continued Ryan Day. Before delving into how he matured into understanding the why.
Coach Day talked about how, growing up, there was “resentment” and “anger” towards his father taking this drastic step. “There’s a point in my life where I just thought he was just mentally weak. And then as you get older, you realize that he was sick,” he said, resoundingly. “Sick” here implies struggling with mental health, of course. “That, combined with the fact that nobody talked about it [made] my wife and I [realize] that there’s a generation of young people here that, you know, don’t need anybody suffering in silence anymore,” he added. Ryan Day proceeded to detail how he and Nina Day have fought the good fight since.
Ryan Day talks about how they associated themselves with the correct people to fight alongside
Those privy to Ryan Day’s career and life in general know how involved Nina Day has been throughout. Coaching and being the custodian of a ginormous institution, the Ohio State Buckeyes, is difficult. Often overtly difficult. His wife has been an unwavering pillar of strength and support for Ryan Day throughout his life. So it’s no surprise she’s just as proactive as him in their efforts to raise awareness around mental health and suicide.
“Being a voice for [mental health issues] and getting behind these causes was important to Nina and I. So we got involved with Nationwide Children’s, which is now called the Kids Mental Health Foundation. They’re doing great work. It’s the only behavioral health hospital in the country for adolescents and teenagers in crisis, and people fly in from all parts of the world to learn right here in Columbus,” said Ryan Day during his address at Impact60. He then added something very strong about the foundation that really puts things in perspective. “It’s very hard to get a room there. Because that’s how busy it is, unfortunately. We are making progress, but we’ve got a long way to go,” he remarked.
After that aforementioned loss to Michigan in The Game, there was a ton of heat on Ryan Day’s back. Some are based on rationale, but most of it is very unwarranted. Almost all of it is over the top as well. It’s great to see he fought through all of that and has managed to receive his flowers on the other side. Hopefully, his and his wife’s endeavors against dispelling the stigma around mental health continue to succeed. Ohio State can be a polarizing team that almost thrives on being hated. But their head coach is a very easy man to root for.
The post Ryan Day Makes Devastating Admission on Father’s Suicide & Wife Nina’s Support For Family’s Undertaking appeared first on EssentiallySports.