Teammates cite ‘mental health’ in reaction to former Boise State football player’s death

Two words came up repeatedly when Jack Fields Jr.’s former Boise State football teammates reacted Friday to his death: “mental health.”

Fields died Thursday night in Georgia. He attacked a sheriff’s deputy with a knife while resisting arrest in a hotel lobby, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the deputy shot and killed him. The deputy was taken to the hospital to receive treatment for his injuries.

The 25-year-old Fields played running back for the Broncos from 2012 to 2015, overlapping with players still on the roster.

“A great teammate. I think a guy that struggled with mental health a little bit,” senior quarterback Brett Rypien told reporters after Boise State’s game Friday night at New Mexico. “It was really hard to hear that. ... You’ve got to keep continuing to raise awareness for mental health. It seemed like he didn’t really have anybody that he could talk to or get help with.”

Former Boise State running back Jeremy McNichols said Fields kept to himself mostly and didn’t interact with the team much away from football.

“I know he went through some things after he left Boise State,” McNichols said in a phone interview. “I think it really hit afterward, the transition after football. You do go through something when you lose that. He loved to play.”

Former Broncos Elliot Hoyte, Darien Barrett, Robert Ash, Mario Yakoo and Tyler Rausa also mentioned mental health while posting about Fields on social media.

“You can’t condone the actions taken,” Rausa, who played from 2013 to 2016, tweeted. “But Jack left the program different than when he came in. Worked harder than anyone I’ve ever known. It’s sad that he truly could not get help for his mental health. It was real, and all of his brothers could see it.”

Boise State coach Bryan Harsin, who coached Fields for two years, learned of his death Friday morning. He shared the news with the team.

“It hurts,” Harsin said. “... For everybody involved, our thoughts and prayers go out to them — for everyone. That was a hard thing this morning.”

Boise State this year added a full-time mental health expert — director of athletic performance-psychology Stephanie Donaldson. She’s part of the renamed Sports Performance, Health and Wellness department.

“As it becomes more commonplace, more understood, we need a lot more resources for (athletes) to work with — there’s a mental component in everything they do,” Marc Paul, Boise State’s director of sports performance, health and wellness, said earlier this year.

This story was originally published November 17, 2018 at 12:29 AM.