Star Quarterback Took Years to Notch Victory Over Depression

He's reinvented himself more than once, but sports fans among the APA membership will know him as one of professional football's greatest quarterbacks.

Hall of Famer and four-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Terry Bradshaw will be the “Conversations” guest at APA's annual meeting in New Orleans. He will be speaking about his own experience with depression.

“Conversations” is sponsored by the American Psychiatric Foundation, APA's charitable arm. It will be held Tuesday, May 25, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Hall A of the Morial Convention Center.

The only NFL player with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Bradshaw continues to defy an easy pigeonhole. He has been an award-winning broadcaster on “Fox NFL Sunday,” a television and movie actor, gospel/country singer, motivational speaker, New York Times best-selling author, and breeder of championship quarter horses.

Bradshaw has also been a forceful advocate for bringing mental illness out of the closet. He spoke at a foundation “Toast of New York” fundraising event at the Empire State Building sponsored by the foundation at APA's 2004 annual meeting. “I sure don't have the average job,” Bradshaw said at the time, “but I know how depression and anxiety can affect how you feel about your work.

“Looking back, I wish someone could have told me that what I was feeling was depression and that help was available. Now with proper treatment, I feel good all day and can focus on the things that matter to me like my career and my family” (Psychiatric News, July 16, 2004).

In an interview with USA Today that same year, Bradshaw talked about the deep depression he experienced following a divorce. After consulting with his pastor, Bradshaw began treatment first with a psychologist, then with a psychiatrist who prescribed antidepressant medication.

“Stigma is incredibly powerful,” Bradshaw told USA Today. “We'll talk about cancer and every other disease, including alcohol and drug abuse, but people do not want to talk about depression. There's something about depression that seems to say, ‘I'm a tremendous failure.’”

Following his successful treatment, he began a tour to talk about his experience.

“One of the reasons why I am doing this campaign—what I call my Depression Tour—is I want to tell people that it's O.K. to be depressed,” he said at the time. “Lots of people are depressed—you're not alone—and I want them to know that if you're clinically depressed, there's a solution for you.”

He continued, “Depression is a physical illness. The beauty of it is that there are medications that work. Look at me. I'm always happy-go-lucky, and people look at me and find it shocking that I could be depressed.”

The first player chosen in the 1970 draft, the 6-foot-3-inch Bradshaw became one of the most prolific quarterbacks in history. He was the first quarterback to win four Super Bowl championships (1975, 1976, 1979, and 1980), making him a perfect 4-0 in Super Bowl play, a feat that has been duplicated only once—10 years later by Joe Montana. He still holds the Super Bowl passing records for average gain per attempt in career (11.10 yards) and average gain in a game (14.71 yards in Super Bowl XIV).

Bradshaw segued to broadcasting as a guest commentator for CBS Sports' NFC postseason broadcasts (1980-1982). He joined CBS Sports as an NFL game analyst in 1984, then became a studio analyst on “The NFL Today” for four seasons beginning in 1990. In 2006 the nationally prominent Davies-Brown Index rated him the best-known broadcaster in all of sports. His work on “Fox NFL Sunday” earned him Emmy awards in the Outstanding Sports Personality/Analyst category in 1999, 2001, and 2009, and he was named TV Guide's “Favorite Sportscaster” in 1999.

Bradshaw is also the author of five books and is a widely sought-after motivational speaker, speaking to Fortune 500 companies and major corporations across the country.

The American Psychiatric Foundation launched the “Conversations” series in 2002 so that psychiatrists could hear from people whose daily lives have been affected by mental illness.