Lions’ David Montgomery Opens Up About Overcoming ‘Suicidal Thought’ in Rookie Year

The running back says criticism from fantasy football managers put him in a “dark place” in his first NFL season.

Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery has rushed for 271 yards and four touchdowns this season. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery has rushed for over 1,000 yards twice in his six-year career and continues to be a key contributor on a team that has legitimate Super Bowl hopes this season.

But during an appearance on behalf of Scouting America on this week's Sports Illustrated fantasy football podcast, Fantasy Dirt, with Michael Fabiano and Lindsay Rhodes, he opened up about a dark time in his rookie year with the Chicago Bears when he admitted to having suicidal thoughts, partly stemming from how fantasy football managers treated him.

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"When I was a rookie, I had a real, real stressful time in the league," Montgomery told SI. "I was at a point where I would have this suicidal thought and it was just a depression. It was just a depression. It was just a depression and a scary year for me. And unfortunately, the people in fantasy were kind of helping me be aided to feeling that way. And I was at a point where I was scared to live."

Montgomery shared that a phone call from his nephew during that time might have saved his life.

"I was in a situation to where I was this close to doing something that I knew I shouldn’t have done, that would have changed the trajectory of my life or changed the trajectory of everybody else around me in my life," Montgomery said. "And my nephew called me right when I was in the midst of doing so. And he didn't say anything about football. He didn't say anything about how fast I was. He just said, 'Uncle Dave, I miss you. How are you doing?' And my nephew, and it meant so much to me, because my nephew, he has leukemia.

"And I was in a very dark place, a very dark place. And from that point on, hearing my nephew's voice, I made a vow to myself and a promise to myself that I would never, ever allow anybody else to have that much control over my mind, my body to make me feel like I wasn't worth anything or valued in a light to where I had a purpose on this Earth."

Montgomery said he's been seeing a therapist since then and it has changed his life.

"Yeah, it was scary, but I got a really good therapist," Montgomery said. "I've been working with a therapist for five years now, and being able to regulate and express my emotions and being able to allow myself to know that I am enough, you know, and I've been through a lot of things. I’ve been through a lot of places where people don't even know who I am. But I get to create that perception for myself, to how I view myself and how my son views me. And, you know, I'm having the best time of my life. And I'm enjoying life for exactly what it is."

Montgomery has scored a touchdown in all four games this season. He and the Lions will look to improve to 4–1 when they travel to Dallas this Sunday for a showdown with the Cowboys.

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