How Should Falcons, Fans Treat Calvin Ridley?

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley has missed two games for a personal reason and announced Sunday he will be taking a leave of absence from the NFL.

It's ironic that Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley announced he would be taking a leave of absence from the team the same day Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Lane Johnson opened up about his fight with depression and anxiety on the FOX Sports pregame show.

The parallels between the two situations are pretty obvious.

Philadelphia surprisingly made Johnson inactive against the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 3. At the time, NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported Johnson was inactive because of a personal matter.

The Falcons have used the same "personal matter" designation with Ridley in two of the last three games. Like the Eagles with Johnson in Week 4, the Falcons did not know Ridley wouldn't play in Week 8 until the morning of the game.

Ridley elaborated on his situation in a tweet Sunday afternoon.

pic.twitter.com/q7OOoAKkdV

— CALVIN RIDLEY (@CalvinRidley1) October 31, 2021

Fortunately, society seems to have come a long way with mental illness in recent years. Ridley has received a lot of support from the Falcons organization and Atlanta sports fans.

"We're keeping him in our prayers. We kind of want to give him a little space so he can kind of focus on his mental health and things like that," said wide receiver Tajae Sharpe, who played in place of Ridley on Sunday. "Like I said, we're going to continue to pray for him and hope for the best."

"Certainly wish Calvin all the best," said quarterback Matt Ryan. "We love him and support him. He's a great friend and a great person, so we all support him as he's going through this."

In the era of social media, the opposite side's opinion is going to be visible too. So there were also NFL fans tweeting Sunday night criticizing Ridley for not being able to deal with his issues and keep playing. Others had the audacity to respond to Ridley's announcement on Twitter to complain that he let down their fantasy teams.

I couldn't disagree with those opinions more. But if I'm being honest, I initially had a slight problem with Ridley tweeting about his situation while the Falcons were trying to beat the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. To me, it signified Ridley wasn't even watching his team. Couldn't he have waited a few more hours to post his announcement?

After more reflection, though, I was too quick to judge Ridley. Sometimes the best "sports takes" (and just opinions in general) are to not have one at all.

We really have no idea what Ridley is going through right now. But whatever it is, it's more important than football. He's chosen to keep it private, and that's within his rights as a person. Ridley is more than an athlete for our entertainment and fantasy teams.

And when you need help, you shouldn't have to wait a few more hours.

As far as him not giving his coaching staff more of a warning he wasn't well enough to play, it's not unprecedented. Again, the same thing happened with Johnson and the Eagles in October. 

In his interview with Jay Glazer, Johnson described that he vomits every day from anxiety. He said at one point the anxiety worsened so badly that he was vomiting blood and experiencing tremors in his hands.

Johnson missed three games before returning to the Eagles against Las Vegas in Week 7. There's no way of knowing if Ridley will be able to return as quickly, but it's important not just for him personally but also the Falcons that he receives the help he needs. Ridley said it best in his tweet.

This will help me be the best version of myself now and in the future.

The first step in fixing anything is acknowledging there's a problem. Kudos to Ridley for taking that step, and I wish him the best of luck during this challenging time.