Playing Football Causes Suicide?

This week's Sports Illustrated covered a high school in Maine who had 5 players or ex-players from the football team commit suicide in the past 2+ years. Here is a synopsis:

In the article from E.M. Swift, Winthrop High School's first suicide was on April 10th, 2003, when Jason Marston, a 15 year old backup varsity player who was reportedly popular with his friends and teammates became distraught after he had an argument with his girlfriend, and after locking himself in his room for that evening he snuck outside during the night and shot himself in the head in the backyard. He had no classic warning signs- he had a stable home life, no indication of use/abuse of drugs or alcohol, no history of depression. His father eulogized him wearing his football jersey, and the next year the football team wore his number on their helmets.

The second suicide occurred 10 months later on February 17, 2004, when 20 year old Lee St. Hilaire shot himself in the stomach with a shotgun in his apartment he shared with his girlfriend in Bangor. He was a celebrated quarterback for Winthrop High, leading the team to a 35-6 record while playing and winning the state championship in 2000. Athletically he was not your typical prototype quarterback, and flamed out after trying to play collegiately at Maine and smaller Husson College in Bangor, disenchanted with the "structure" of college ball and also the taste of losing. He brought a little more baggage to the table however- he was the product of a divorced family and chose to live with his girlfriend's family in high school. He reportedly "kept things to himself" and was "defensive about how he was perceived in the community", and while at Maine did not like the idea of a curfew or being told when he could not go home to Winthrop, a freedom a college athlete gives up to play at that level. He also had conversations with his ex-high school football coach about the direction his life was going and what he was going to do in the future. Again no drugs or alcohol were noted.

The next suicide came 11 months later on January 8, 2005, when Bryant (Mox) Donovan, another 19 year old ex-Winthrop player, hung himself. Donovan idolized St. Hilaire, having many clippings from his days as a player, where Donovan was his backup, adorned on his wall at home. Donovan was reported to be "devastated" by Hilaire's death. However, Donovan did show some signs of being at risk. His parents divorced during his freshman year of high school, and his coaches report that he "had a hard time dealing with that." He was kicked off the team his senior year for violating team rules. The night he killed himself, he had been drinking, and an open whiskey bottle was found beside his body.

Lee Ellis died 3 days later, a 24 year old ex-lineman, also by hanging himself. Ellis and Donovan were 5 years apart in school so they barely knew each other, and he had a lot of signs for being at risk- he had a history of depression and a grandmother who committed suicide, was $2000 behind in child support, and had already tried to kill himself twice before succeeding on January 11, 2005.

Chad Garwood also hung himself, on June 11, 2005. He seemed to be a person who had a lot going for him- a top student and star football and basketball player, he was admitted to Colby, a very selective college in the state of Maine. He played football there his freshman year but struggled academically, and did not return for his sophomore year. He moved on and enrolled at the University of Southern Maine, but as a student only, since the school did not have a football team. When Donovan died, Garwood was already struggling with his parents separation- specifically his father, who struggles with depression- and that "double blow" was hard on him emotionally. Still dealing with this, he also struggled with his "failure" at Colby, and prompted a school nurse to have a Winthrop assistant coach call on Garwood to assess how he was doing. He struggled with talking about himself, "clamming up" when the subject of conversation turned to him, but he promised the coach he would call if he ever thought of hurting himself. He began heavily drinking alcohol for about 6 months prior to his death, and had consumed a 6 pack of beer the night he killed himself.

On November 5, 2005, the football team lost another Winthrop player and 2003 graduate, when Jason Ruman was killed in a motor vehicle accident. He had also been drinking heavily that night, and lost control of his car at high speed and flipped over, striking a utility pole. Thankfully, two female passengers also in the car survived the crash.

Six deaths. Five suicides, one drunk driving accident. Five men all under the age of 24, who should be in the prime of their lives and experiencing the excitement and enjoyment of freedom and adulthood, instead being mourned by their families and their community. The article goes into detail about how the community was overwhelmed with what seemed to be "copycat" behavior. Looking externally, they saw the connection that all were male, played football for Winthrop, and died within a two and a half year period (excluding the drunk driving incident). Here's what happened:

• The person who plays football was profiled- men who would not talk about suicide, who would not express themselves emotionally, who had been "trained" to "suck it up" and "play hurt", to show no weaknesses or vulnerability, play football. And they were action oriented, demonstrating such in their athletic prowess and with the success they had with killing themselves.
• The environment was examined- the football coach had kept a board of clippings of players who died young (not only suicide, including those in uniform or in traffic accidents) in the locker room, the players wore Marston's number that year after his death, and St. Hilaire's memorial service was held in the school gym. There was an article in the Augusta paper wondering if the "pressure of fan expectations" on the team strained these players, making them more at risk to themselves.
• The coaches were examined- fortunately the only good story worth printing. The coaches appeared to be model mentors, reaching out to the young men both while they were playing for them and often for many years afterward, a pattern that was kept even though there were changes in the staff during this period.
• The school and the community addressed the issue- the coaches ramped up their efforts at communication with the players, the athletic director worked towards getting students to utilize resources while notifying adults of at risk behavior, and memorials that were requested for the fallen students have been declined by the school.

What did they surmise? That even though the pattern amongst the dead is that they are male and between the ages of 15-24 (the demographic where suicide is the third leading cause of death), the community, and the article itself, concludes that football may predispose males to killing themselves.

Here is where I start to have a problem. I agree with the findings that can be logically traced above, but I think that the writer and the community failed to make some very important points. First, what about the issue of divorce? While it may be taboo to bring it up in today's progressive and relativistic society, parent's who choose to break their wedding vows are modeling the selfish distaste for the value of commitment they are trying to hold their children up to. By saying "Do what I say and not as I do", they potentially demonstrated that value is relative to the person, and is accountable to no one else. So why should someone who is planning on taking their life express their feelings to someone else, even a parent, because in their mind it is an agreeable alternative to struggles that all people of this age range inevitably experience?

My second problem is with alcohol consumption and apparent abuse in minors. Emotional instability is a hallmark for this age demographic, and while many think that drinking alcohol is a right given that they are "exploring" during this time in their lives, the combination of instability and drinking can be deadly. As a resident assistant in college, I was repeatedly trained to recognize the warning signs of suicidal behavior, and my two instances in "talking someone down" both involved relationship break-ups- emotional instability- and heavy alcohol intoxication. The community above has done many of the right things in trying to stop this rash of behavior, but they, and the writer, glaringly fail to bring this point up at all, other than to state the fact that the male had been drinking that day/night. Perhaps the attention to this detail by the parents, the school, the coaches, and the community may limit the next fatality in Winthrop.

Could these two factors have played a role in this as well?