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Lane Johnson Tries his Hand at the Scribal Arts as a Newly-Published Mental Health Columnist
Published:
Ahead of Thursday night’s assumed pancaking of various Cowboys linemen, Lane Johnson became a published columnist, receiving his first byline at The Philadelphia Citizen. A press release describes Johnson’s entry into the scribal arts thusly:
The column will run for each game during the regular season and will highlight the people, organizations, and interventions making a difference in improving mental health in Philadelphia and around the country. Johnson opened up about his struggles with anxiety and depression in 2021 and has spent the last four years furthering the conversation about the importance of strong mental health. Johnson is the fourth member of the Philadelphia Eagles who has written seasonally for The Philadelphia Citizen.
It feels like it was a hundred years ago, but Johnson missed a few games in the season following the pandemic due to what he described as depression and anxiety. He returned to the starting lineup in week 4 and told everyone that he was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder in college that caused, among other things, blood vomiting and hand tremors. That particular point in time was bookended by Super Bowl victories and Pro Bowl nods, so he managed to excel on the field despite dealing with some serious shit.
The first column is an introduction of sorts. It’s titled/subtitled “Lane Johnson’s Season of Strong Mental Health | The Pro Bowler’s Latest Title — Citizen Columnist.” He elaborates a bit more on the genesis of his anxiety and the shame of feeling a certain way. He talks about Michael Phelps going public with his mental health struggles, which opened the door for Johnson and others to talk about their issues. Then he talks about almost walking away from football entirely:
“I think back to 2021 — between ankle injuries and my struggles with navigating my anxiety meds, I almost walked away from football. But I wasn’t truly ready to retire — I was just looking to hide, to isolate myself. It’s something a lot of people with mental health struggles do.”
It was a good column overall. Not too long, easy to sit down and read. According to the press release, this will be published before each game, so 17 times at least. Playoffs? No clue. But Johnson joins Jason Kelce, Malcolm Jenkins, and Connor Barwin as Citizen columnists, who wrote about education, criminal justice reform, and civic health, respectively.
By the way, if any Philadelphia Eagle would like to try their hand at irreverent and pithy sports blogging, you are more than welcome to write for the award-losing sports blog Crossing Broad.
By the way, Google has a new option for “source preferences” that determines where Crossing Broad ranks in search. Make sure to add us to the list, to ensure we continue to serve the Delaware Valley with the highest-quality sports blogging.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com