Reggie Ball going through serious bout of depression?

tdb

tdb

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Take this FWIW, from the following thread on the Wake boards:

http://mb16.scout.com/fwakeforestfrm1.showMessageRange?topicID=85578.topic&start=41&stop=51

more to this story than is public - I do believe - and its kind of sad.

Apparently, Reggie Ball has been seen quite often of late nearly drinking heavily until he is nearly passed out.

It sounds to me this kid is in the mist of one serious bout of depression.

This comes from a Ga Tech alum and major supporter.
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Sad if true, but not surprising.
 
I sure wouldn't be surprised. Four year of being ridiculed by every sportscaster out there will cause depression in anyone. People seem to forget these guys are barely in their 20's - many aren't.

It's sad on every side of the coin.
 
I would be. Seriously. I feel real sorry for the guy. He had the weight of the world on his shoulders and came up short vs UGA. Had he just made some plays, we'da won, had momentum, likely rode that momentum through the ACCCG to the Orange Bowl, and Reggie would have gone down in Tech history as a hero.

Seriously, think about it. In two games he went from a potential hero to essentially being permanently villified by Tech fans for all eternity, after giving 4 years of his life to the school. It's a really really sad situation.

Hell yeah I'd drink. I'd drink myself nutty. I'm real glad I'm not him right now, and I hope if any of you Stingtalkers sees Reggie around, you're nice to the guy.

I blamed him for the UGA loss, and I stand by that blame. I blame him for a lot of stuff, and I think the blame is accurate. But I don't hate him, and I hope nobody else around here does either.
 
beej67 said:
But I don't hate him, and I hope nobody else around here does either.
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If at least a few don't, they have a funny way of showing it.
 
I'll be the first to admit that I say that having been VERY critical of his play, and willing to heap lots of blame for our performance on him directly, the kind of stuff that's not Hivefriendly. Given all that, I really feel for the guy.

He's not even going to qualify for a cushy alumni-offered job anymore. Dude's future is now in question. He's got to be depressed.
 
The saddest thing about this is it probably could have been prevented if our coaches had let one of of our other QB's taken some load off of him, or at least given the chance. They put ALL of the load on Reggie and he was not capable of handling it. This was apparent to many of us that this was the case at the time. Why couldn't our coaches see it??
 
Bogey said:
The saddest thing about this is it probably could have been prevented if our coaches had let one of of our other QB's taken some load off of him, or at least given the chance. They put ALL of the load on Reggie and he was not capable of handling it. This was apparent to many of us that this was the case at the time. Why couldn't our coaches see it??
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Good post Bogey and a very good question.
 
Maybe Reggie convinced the coaches he *could* handle it. That's certainly what it looks like from my armchair.
 
If our coaches listened to Reggie rather than making their own decisions a professional coaches, they need to be fired. That is a ridiculous comment.
 
beej67 said:
Maybe Reggie convinced the coaches he *could* handle it. That's certainly what it looks like from my armchair.
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I think the Ugay game would have convinced me that he couldn't.
 
I don't know about Reggie, but this description - "bout of depression" and "drinking heavily until almost passed out" - perfectly matches me watching him play.
 
mm42 said:
I don't know about Reggie, but this description - "bout of depression" and "drinking heavily until almost passed out" - perfectly matches me watching him play.
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:laugher:
 
I know y'all don't want to hear from me again...

And I was probably wrong to bash Reggie in this public forum. I honestly do not wish anything bad to happen to Reggie. I hope he is successful in his future.
As has been well documented here today, I am the resident classless idiot. I tend to forget that this is a person the same age as my kids and I wouldn't want some old fart to publicly ridicule and humiliate them from the safety of their keyboard.
For whatever Reggie's shortcomings are and the frustrations he may have caused me, he is still a human being. I have never played college football and don't know what it is like to walk in Reggie's shoes.
Hopefully, he is not suffering from depression and will be able to move on and lead a productive life in whatever field he pursues. I don't want to add to his problems with my opinions. Life is too short.
Merry Christmas and peace to all!
 
Well said flatjacket!

Merry Christmas to you and we all hope the best for RB in his future endeavors.
 
Bogey said:
They put ALL of the load on Reggie and he was not capable of handling it. This was apparent to many of us that this was the case at the time. Why couldn't our coaches see it??
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Go here: drad@athletics.gatech.edu

Send resume. Get job. Then get criticized by the other coaching genuises making their living doing something else but posting on StingTalk.
 
What do you mean by not being able to handle it? If you mean psychologically, then you should put out your shingle if you can tell what someone can handle from the sidelines. If you mean football wise, that's what QBs do. They handle all the pressure of expectations to win and all the blame with losing. Every QB in D-1 faces the same pressure Reggie did. The difference perhaps is that he never succeeded enough to build that level of tolerance or acceptance that most do.
 
mm42 said:
I don't know about Reggie, but this description - "bout of depression" and "drinking heavily until almost passed out" - perfectly matches me watching him play.
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I swear, you are one of two people on this board that crack me up. I laughed so hard on that one, my secretary came back to my office to ask me what was so funny.

Regardless, I'm not a Reggie fan and I think the kid has poor character traits that need to be corrected. That said, I'm with Beej, I blame him for a lot, but I don't hate him. I'm not at all sad about the situation though. If Reggie was so depressed and drinking, the staff should have benched him and stopped putting him in situations where he would fail. This is classic "trying to drive a square peg in a round hole" that I've ever seen.

Like another poster said, part of me really hoped Reggie would come out and give a big "UP YOURS" to the fan base including me and light up WVU going out on a high note after a tumultuous career. It would have been fitting given that the fan base has ridden his ass since he's been here. But quite frankly, I think most of that criticism Reggie brought on himself for the way he is and I don't feel sorry for him on that. Its too bad he won't have his chance to redeem himself. But you know what? I don't care.
 
cyclejacket said:
Go here: drad@athletics.gatech.edu

Send resume. Get job. Then get criticized by the other coaching genuises making their living doing something else but posting on StingTalk.
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Thanks for the idea. I'm going to send DRAD my resume today on being the next OC at GT. I will post it first chance I get.
 
BarrelORum said:
Thanks for the idea. I'm going to send DRAD my resume today on being the next OC at GT. I will post it first chance I get.
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Do you promise to post DRad's response? :)
 
He's a good overall athlete...Think he could play another position in the NFL? If so, where would they give him a shot?
 
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