The NFL world and the college football world are mourning the sudden passing of Rondale Moore. The 25-year-old wide receiver was last playing for the Minnesota Vikings in 2025, although due to an injury, he didn’t appear in a regular-season game. The cause of death is suspected to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to an AFP report.
Advertisement
Moore’s suspected suicide is sadly part of a long list of former NFL athletes who have taken their lives due to personal challenges, including mental health issues. According to reports, from 2011 to 2019, the suicide rate for former NFL players was 2.6 times higher than for the NBA and MLB.
Speaking about this issue, which only recently former players and current players have started to acknowledge as a major concern, Breiden Fehoko, a former nose tackle who played in the NFL for five years, decided to speak up. And in his statement, he didn’t hold back, saying that while NFL teams may urge players to speak about mental health on the outside, behind closed doors, it can feel like the opposite.
“Imma keep it a stack.. I don’t care, I’m retired I’ll say what I want. These NFL teams come out here and post these mental health awareness posts talking about they care about players “don’t be afraid to reach out”etc. All they care about is what you bring to the table when it’s game day,” Fehoko wrote in his tweet.
Fehoko argues that once a player speaks about his issues with a staff member, he’s looked at through a different lens. He claimed to have seen this himself firsthand.
“Most players don’t wanna get help inside the building of an NFL organization because they know you’ll get looked at differently. You go to a staff member tell em you struggling watch how different they start treating and looking at you. I seen it first hand,” he wrote.
Fehoko then urged NFL teams to treat everyone in a facility, from the highest-paid QB to a janitor, through the same lens when it comes to mental health, and only then, he says, can the major issue truly be addressed.
Imma keep it a stack.. I don’t care, I’m retired I’ll say what I want. These NFL teams come out here and post these mental health awareness posts talking about they care about players “don’t be afraid to reach out”etc. All they care about is what you bring to the table when it’s…
— Breiden Fehoko (@BreidenFehoko) February 22, 2026
If what Fehoko claims is true, it’s quite concerning, to say the least. If NFL players need to go outside the league for help regarding mental health, especially considering that they constantly deal with season-ending injuries, roster cuts, and constant pressure, then things need to change.
These players, no doubt, need a proper system that provides psychological and psychiatric care whenever it’s needed. This could include confidential counseling services, access to licensed therapists and sports psychologists, mental health check-ins during the season and offseason and support programs that players can use without fear of it affecting their careers.
And if it helps, the process could also be anonymous. There are many ways to support someone, and the league, which is making billions every year, needs to use the most effective ones.
Notably, Moore’s death has still not been officially ruled a suicide, but online reports suggest it very likely could be. The autopsy is set for Sunday, when we should get a clear-cut answer.
