Mendenhall: I'm happier in retirement than during my playing days

While many people are told at a young age that being a professional athlete is the most desirable job out there, playing in the NFL isn't for everyone.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals running back Rashard Mendenhall is one of those people.

Mendenhall, 29, retired in 2013 after a six-year career and now works as a staff writer for HBO's "Ballers." He recently wrote a first-person piece for the Huffington Post detailing his transition out of the NFL.

At times I’ve gone days without leaving my house. Not even to check the mailbox or grab a bite to eat. Feeling so empty and devoid of purpose, I couldn’t see the point in doing anything. When my schedule forced me, I’d slowly get into uniform, grab my helmet and take on the day. Be it on set for production, the writer’s room, or even a meeting for some new and exciting potential project. By game time I transformed and was ready to play, but when the dust of each duty settled, I either felt great about what I’d done or utterly incomplete.

Mendenhall said he's become much happier since ending his playing career, but the move wasn't easy. While he's tried to distance himself from being strictly identified as a football player, he said it's a difficult transition to make when that's all you've known.

He's critical of the environment of football that he claims forces players to ignore their emotions, eventually leading to "dangerous behavior" in retirement. He also said "being raised in a locker room" does little to prepare players to deal with life after football.

Football doesn’t teach you to embrace your feelings. It actually does the opposite, forcing you to be tough, suck it up and move on. With this, I’ve realized that even off the field it’s hard for players to process their own individual suffering. So when the game stops and you can no longer run and tackle your frustrations away, the negative energy gets bottled up and can show itself in dangerous behavior. Like a blood clot that goes undetected until it’s too late, drugs, alcoholism, women, domestic abuse are some of the ways it tends to permeate.

Mendenhall doesn't regret his decision to retire earlier than many expected, and hopes his story will help other players enter the real world after football.

I share this to show that even after leaving the game and starting a career in a fun and exciting new field, the transition from football to life-after isn’t easy. I’m happier now than I ever was playing in the NFL. Being free to express more than just the physical aspects of my being and experiencing for the first time feelings you’re not allowed to have as a gladiator. Starting over is a challenge; much different than preparing to win a game, but one that takes the same level of effort and dedication if you want to win. For the people who thought I had it all figured out, I don’t. I’ve learned it’s okay to ask for help, my life coach has taken me further than I could’ve ever gotten on my own. To the players that have struggled to find a fulfilling life apart from the game, keep fighting. Don’t be afraid to reach out to someone. The struggle is real for each one of us. But just like on that field, we’ll find a way. We always have. We always do.