The Cover Story — Paving the Lane to better mental health

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Healthcare is ever-changing and constantly evolving, but it’s also personal to every employer who offers health benefits to their employees and every member who needs coverage. IBX The Cover Story from Independence Blue Cross is the podcast you need for timely relevant conversations about the most critical topics in healthcare coverage. Join me, Susan Larkin, executive Vice President and president of Core Commercial Markets at IBX, as we explore the big picture of healthcare and the topics that matter to you most. Let’s jump right into IBX, The Cover Story.

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Hi, my name is Susan Larkin, and welcome to IBX, the cover story for this special edition, my colleague Bob Toner and I speak with Philadelphia Eagles star offensive lineman, Lane Johnson, and discuss the important topic of mental health. We were pleased to have Lane as part of a recent client meeting and captured this discussion to share with you at IBX. We recognize that mental health challenges are everywhere among us in today’s world. Ensuring our members get the behavioral healthcare they need is so important to us at IBX that we made it a pillar in our corporate and equitable, whole-person health strategies. Lane’s story is a compelling one as he has maintained his career in a position that faced extreme pressure, intense scrutiny, and life in a public spotlight Lane is a five-time pro bowler team captain and one of Philadelphia’s most important figures when it comes to addressing his mental health journey. It’s my great pleasure to have him on the cover story to discuss experiences while providing insight for those who may be struggling as well.

(02:29):

There you go. How about that? How about that opening? Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Philadelphia Eagles five-time all-pro Super Bowl champion, offensive lineman, accomplished vocalist — can I say that? Accomplished vocalist. I love it. WWE contender and mental health advocate, Mr. Lane Johnson.

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So, Lane, thank you for being here with us today. I’m Susan Larkin, and I’m with Bob Toner, our director of sales.

(02:57):

We know that you’ve come a long way in paving the lane to better mental health, but let’s go back to the beginning. So, let’s give us the backstory, really kind of starting with earlier years, growing up, high school, college, and ultimately signing with the Philadelphia Eagles. Okay,

(03:16):

So, I grew up in a town called Groveton, Texas. None of y’all have ever heard of it, I understand. Population about 1100, give or take. I graduated with around 35 kids. So, my whole goal in high school was to go D1, and I knew that the odds were going to be stacked against me due to my school’s size. So, my school size was 1A, and the largest in Texas at the time was 5A. So very small. And so that’s the reason that I ended up going to junior college. But in high school, my favorite sport was actually basketball. That was my first love. I grew up playing that mostly all my career. I got really serious football freshman and sophomore year, and I played quarterback. I played some free safety. So, there’s some film out there on YouTube if you want to check it out.

(04:04):

So yeah, I did that, and I had an offer from Rice, which is a very prestigious school, and so I thought about going there, but at the end of the day, I knew I wanted to go to a powerhouse school, and I needed to go to junior college to do that. So that was my first opportunity, and I remember that was just a big wake-up call. I remember just going from such a small school to junior college and just the athletes, the amount of talent that I saw out there. My first game, actually, I was playing quarterback. Jason Pierre-Paul was the defensive man for the opposing team, and Lavonte David was a linebacker for the same team. So, I got to play with some guys that I’ve ended up playing with in the NFL. So yeah, played a season at quarterback. Had a decent year, but going into that spring, I started playing some tight end, had a good 40-time, good workout, and got some small offers. Long story short, ended up getting an offer to go play at Oklahoma.

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So, big shout out to my high school coach, Keith Thomas. He played there back in the seventies whenever Barry Switzer was the coach. So got me there the first few years I really didn’t play a lot of, I remember I was going from quarterback to tight end, so I just remember getting put in the trenches, put on the ground a lot. So, a lot of growing years my first couple years and then my last two years I did something that I never thought I’d do, which was switch to the offensive line. I’ve always been a skilled position athlete. Last thing I want to do is go with the big boys there on the sleds, but I got to say it was a hell of a decision. It ended up paying off, and I got drafted by Philly 2013. We won a Super Bowl, lost the Super Bowl, but always competing.

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I feel like this year we really got a shot at having a special team, and I’m excited about it, but just what I explained to y’all was my story, but there was a lot of struggle in there. So, a lot of my struggles started. I remember it started in high school, so I remember we didn’t have iPhones out at the time, but I think we had the Razor phones, but was just, I was always in the comparison game because in the recruiting world, that’s essentially what it is. You’re going to colleges, they’re looking at height, weight, speed, height, weight, speed. And I put pressure for myself. I had a goal, it was something within me that I couldn’t shake. It was something I couldn’t turn it off. It was like my destiny had a vision to go play in NFL, whatever it was. So really, anxiety really hindered me.

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I felt like a lot in junior college, started in high school, but I just remember that my ability to focus was compromised, I was always on the edge, inability to eat, never had an appetite, wanted to isolate, and the biggest step that I ever took was addressing my mental health. And I found out that my college roommate had the same type of symptoms that I had. So, once I figured out that about half my football team was dealing with similar issues, I was like, hey, this is a lot more normal than what they say. But I think those initial steps, there wouldn’t be an NFL career without that because I was really struggling. A lot of the symptoms I was just describing, and I thought throughout my career that accomplishments would kind of minimize that but neglecting that part of my life ended up catching me back in ‘21 or 2020 whenever I had the ankle injury and ended up missing some time.

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But yeah, I just want to go over just kind of my transformation today with y’all. Some of the steps I take, some of the stuff that I’ve learned. The good thing about the NFL, we have a lot of good sports scientists. Their job is to kind of maximize you as humans. So, the good part about this is that I feel like over the past five years, it’s really been talked about, discussed more, and really more and open with athletes, which I think is very important, especially for this younger generation, the anxious generation. You can’t go anywhere now where our people aren’t glued to their phones. And that’s another thing I want to talk about today, and we’ll get to that. But yeah, that’s a little bit of my story.

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Yeah, interesting. So, Lane being in the NFL, I can imagine it takes a huge toll on your physical and mental health. How do you deal with it all?

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Yeah, so physical, I feel like is easier for me because there’s certain lifts, there’s certain types of functional stuff you can do to make your body in less pain. So as players get older, whatever exercises they neglected, whether it be flexibility, strength, it all kind of gets exposed as you age. So, for me, I’ve hired a trainer since 18 when I started getting lots of injuries, rolled up surgeries. And so having that at my disposal, having him monitor my workouts, what I’m eating, that really helped the physical part. But the meditation, the mental stuff, I had to learn. So, I’ve been working with a guy named Brian Cain, who’s a sports psychologist, and works with all sorts of guys from the PGA, NFL, NHL, big-time guys, Hall of Fame guys. I started addressing that and attacking that like it was a physical workout. We can go over some of that today. But really, what he allowed me to do is really eliminate distractions. You had to practice that, and you had to learn that because it’s something that we’ve gotten bad habits of. And so, you had to kind of redo your system and start fresh.

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Well, how did you know when it was actually time to seek help?

(08:58):

Just when symptoms became too much. When you’re constantly stressed, when you notice that it’s affecting your relationships, your ability to communicate. You feel isolated, but the symptoms are just anxiousness. You feel nervous, tensed up all the time. I’ve had experienced some depression just with the injury I had because I was wondering, pondering if I was going to retire from football. But most of my stuff was anxiety-related. But I can say the number one thing people do is self-isolate. They don’t want to talk, and I feel like their ability to focus and really rationalize things is kind of out of the question when you get to that point. So, I guess the best way to describe it is you feel caged up, and you don’t want to tell anybody because you’re worried of criticism or things of that sort.

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So, you knew it was time to seek help. So, what were the first steps that you took? Yeah,

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So, I think it was communicating with my roommate, which I was just talking about in college. Josh knew, so I credit shout out. Josh knew, I don’t think if I had him, that he wouldn’t direct me to the pro’s office, which was the psychological resources for the athletes there in Oklahoma. So, after talking to him, I found out we had a lot more in common. We’re at the University of Oklahoma where you’re a top five at that time, top-10 program every year, and you can’t lose the game, and the pressure’s on, and you have new recruits coming in all the time. And so, after the symptoms got too much, I talked to him, and then I started talking to the psychological resources, but really became educated on what it was, what was anxiety, what are these symptoms, what am I feeling? Why am I feeling this? And I think once you became educated about it, it became a lot easier to manage and at least know what you’re dealing with.

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So, when you’re thinking about other people that are struggling, how would you suggest starting the conversation with a loved one who also may be feeling that anxiety and is struggling?

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Yeah, I mean, I think a very intimate personal conversation. It’s not meant to be, I think, amongst the crowd or in a group, but really, I think it’s a one-on-one, and everybody knows who the most trusted person they have in their life and who they can count on, and hopefully they can count on. But that was my first step was letting the cat out of the bag, and it felt good to say what I was feeling. And then I got directed. I was fortunate enough to where I had help, professional help from the university. So, without Josh knew and without the pro’s office, I don’t think there is me as a Philadelphia Eagle. So those definitely help.

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So, when we think about this audience, we’ve got leaders of many organizations. So, what message would you provide to really help break the stigma and encourage the conversation around mental health as everyone goes back to their prospective organizations?

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Yeah, it is just for me when I talk to Brian Cain, really, really establishing your goals. What are your goals for the year? And make them clear. And it doesn’t have to be projected to anybody. You can keep it in a drawer but hold yourself accountable with that. And then one simple thing I do is I have a to-do list every day. And as stupid and as simple as it may seem, you’d be surprised how easy it is to neglect. So, I plan my days, and I stay regimented towards ‘em. It’s nothing sexy, it’s nothing a hack about it. But for me, I think in order to get your mental health right, I think physically you need to, not saying hit the gym, but there’s other ways to get rid of anxiousness for us, like saunas really good for recovery. They’ve done a lot of studies with cold exposure with depression and anxiety.

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So, there’s different things out there, modalities you can use, but a lot of it is if you can stay on top of your things and not procrastinate, I think procrastination might be the most number one thing that causes a lot of anxiety but establish your goals and then work towards ‘em. And then every few weeks, you have to analyze. Are my habits reflecting my mission? What are the things that I’m doing? Are they translating? And if they’re not, then you got to go back and reestablish them. But it’s a constant monitoring process. But I think the beauty of any organization, I think with my experience in the NFL is just the better the communication, the less isolation. Even when things aren’t going good, we’re losing ball games. I can tell you what doesn’t work is isolating the chattering. It’s better to be open and transparent and settle it like men and don’t, and so that way men and women. So, I think communication is very important too.

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So back to football lane, you seem like an incredibly tight bunch on that offensive line, but how have your teammates impacted your growth?

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Yeah, the good thing about the O-line room, you have a lot of personalities. You have people from all over the world. I got to sit next to Jason Kelce for 10 years or 11 years. I had Landon Dickerson next to me, Jordan Mailata. But I think, yeah, just everybody’s different personality. I’ve had my deal bouts with anxiety. Kelce has had his bouts with anger just when he gets frustrated. So, we’ve been kind of a yin and yang in the O-Line room. But those are my brothers. I grew up as an only child and those guys have just been with me through every practice, through every hard one, every tough game. And so, I know what these guys are going to do whenever stuff hits the fan, I don’t have to ask. I know that’s the beauty about what I do is that it’s all open and transparent, and you can see who’s given effort, and you can tell a lot about a person by how they play. And yeah, I’ve just been very fortunate. I’ve had Kelce right there. Any struggles, just a good guy to have Mailata. Kelce and I with the older guys in the O-line room and now it’s just me. But I really enjoy the Landons of the room, the Mailatas, the younger generation, and so they help keep me young.

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Also like to talk about your recent Walter Peyton Man of the Year nomination. What an honor, what’s the most rewarding part of, I guess, of community service that you do?

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Yeah, I think working with the Travis Manion Foundation, my trainer is a former Marine, so just giving back to the military, listening to them. I think why I spent so much time with the Travis Manion Foundation is because when I talked to a lot of the Gold Star families, they said that this organization was the one that did the most action, and really, they felt a lot of help from them. And they’re local Philly. Ryan Manion and his sister run it now. And then I think for me was giving back to my junior college. I wasn’t there very long, but just the impact they had on me. They were the only college that really gave me a chance. And so, I was able to give them a weight room, working on redoing the locker room, and the fieldhouse. So, I try to leave something better than what I found, but I just wanted to give real resources to the future players down there because there’s not a whole lot of money.

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But I think the one thing about talking to the veterans and people in the military is that with them, it’s like life and death is a totally different perspective. And so as being a guy that’s an athlete slash entertainer really puts stuff into perspective that my problems aren’t all that serious compared to the real things in the world. But talking with guys like that and the sacrifices they make and mental fortitude you have to be in that line of work. I kind of come from a place of admiration, but really I just think talking to ‘em before and after every game, it just gave me a reset, and hey man, I’m playing a game that I love for fans that I love, that love the game, but these guys are the real heroes.

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We can’t thank you enough. There’s people that talk about doing it, and there’s those that do it. And again, on behalf of all of us, we can’t thank you enough for everything you do for the community. What an honor. But I’m also interested in what does the future look like? This is a two-part question. So, what’s the prediction for the Eagles next year?

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Run through them, run ‘em all. No, I mean I’m very, very optimistic with the talent that we have. I’m just interested. I could tell you more after the first preseason game or two kind of, but now I’m excited about Saquon back there, all the guys that we’ve added. It’s the most excited I’ve been in a long time, so want to get that bad taste out of our mouths from last year. Nobody liked how that ended. And so yeah, I think sky’s the limit. We got a really good chance.

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Awesome. So, part two of that question, what’s the future look like for you Lane?

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Yeah, I mean I think I still have a lot of good years left, so some of the stuff the guys neglect as they get older, the flexibility stuff, hey, I got my trainer, I’m in it every day. You don’t have to worry about me, I’m attacking it. But no, I mean, I think for me, I’m just trying to enjoy it, the time that I do have, and understand that the league is always a changing of the guard. So, the best leader I can be for these young guys, and just really cherish my time that I have with and I’m excited about it.

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Well, before we open it to questions from the audience, as you continue to pave the lane to better mental health, is there anything else you want to share with the group?

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Yeah, I think we live in a distracted world, and I think we’re all very good at practicing distractions with our phones. You can’t go anywhere, and it can’t have a normal conversation anymore. If it was 1980, somebody’s grandma would slap the hell out of people and say, what are you doing? That’s what really needs to happen. And the problem is that the adults have it now and nobody’s keeping control of that. But no, in all seriousness, I think it really steals people’s happiness. Everything is a comparison game. Social media is nothing but highlights. It’s not real life, but what you’re doing is practicing three seconds of focus, three seconds of focus as you swipe, and you get conditioned, and you start having anxiety because you’re absorbing so much information, and you’re not, it’s all emptiness. And so, I think the more we can get away from that and really practicing getting involved in each other and personal conversations and limiting the technology is brilliant.

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And as nice as it is, it does, it has been a setback. And I think that’s why the number one reason mental health is so big now is because you can look good athletes. If Jordan or any of these guys that would’ve had the social media that was going on now on the cameras, I don’t know if their careers would’ve been the same, they don’t have the same scrutiny. And so, people need to understand is that it’s a new day and age now to where there is limited privacy. These kids are young, and yeah, they are anxious because everything is compared and the sports game and the sports world. And so, to the people, it’s entertainment, but the athletes, at the same time, we’re humans. So yeah, the less we can get out of our TVs and phones, the better. I think moving forward, a lot of things will be.

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Well, we thank you for all of your efforts and breaking down the stigma. So, we’re going to open it up to questions from the audience.

(19:44):

You mentioned about stigma. And my question is that you’re very high profile, and we talked about this at our table, is there still a stigma around mental health? And while there may be improvements, did you feel that way at all in the locker room that there was a stigma around that at all? Or do you feel like because you were so high profile that you weren’t necessarily subject to that open criticism? And would you have any recommendations for how we can teach people not to put a stigma around mental health issues?

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Yeah, well, I definitely think it’s better now than what it’s ever been. Even I think the first five years being in the league that it was still pretty stigmatized. I think even Brandon Brooks, the reception he got was good in some areas, but he also got some criticism. And I think after, I think Michael Phelps speaking out some of these guys and addressing that, I think those guys are really the pioneers of it, the real high-profile guys, because whenever guys like that speak of these things, people will listen. So yeah, I mean, I think it’s definitely changed for the better in the locker room. We do have mental health professionals. It’s talked about, it’s discussed in team meetings. It’s like, hey, it’s like lifting weights. You got to, let’s get, I think getting our minds is a little bit more important than physical. And I think it’s the dumbest thing. It’s been stigmatized like it is, but a lot of what the fear is people were scared to be embarrassed or humiliated or talked about on social media. That’s the number one fear. And so, if we could get the cat out of the bag and remove that, I think that would help a lot of things too.

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I just wanted to know, outside of seeing Mr. Brian Cain, what else is the NFL doing for their employees surrounding mental and behavioral health?

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So, every NFL team has a licensed therapist, and so I think that was something implemented maybe three years ago, but beforehand it was something that you sought out with the team’s medical staff, but now it’s addressed first thing in the off-season. It’s readdressed during training camp and in the season, but the office is right by our meeting rooms. And so, I think the good thing about it is she’s very well-spoken, and she talks to a lot of our guys on the team and even upstairs, but we have some agreements. So, I talked to another guy, his name’s Dr. Lonnie Rosen, Nick Saban’s, a big advocate of him, but my coach worked with him. Jeff Stoutland worked with him at Michigan State. And so, we have people in the building, and then we have people outside the building if people want to get guidance from somewhere else. But like I said, this stuff wasn’t here five years ago. It is just started, but for the better

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Afternoon, first off, thank you for the free beer back in 2017. I appreciate that. So when you promised that you’ve experienced the highs of winning a Super Bowl and the lows of losing one as well as what has happened throughout your whole playing career, as a person who’s suffering has gone through the struggles, I don’t want to say suffering, but gone through the struggles, what have you done personally or what have you found that helps you when you feel that you are hitting that area where you know that you are starting to think inside of yourself and really have that internal struggle? What helps break you out of that?

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You really got to prioritize what matters right now. There’s only so many things that you can accomplish maybe in a day. So really, you need to identify what things you’re worried about, what’s something that’s causing you to feel this way, then have a plan of attack. But for me, a lot of me is, I think a lot of anxiety starts from people being sedentary, sitting, watching tv, not doing a damn thing. A lot of it comes from sitting, not being in motion. What you’ll notice, hey, going a mile, walk down the road, your head will be a lot clearer, but people don’t the simplest methods. But for me, if I didn’t work out, it would be much tougher because I feel like, yeah, when you’re sitting, when you’re on the phone, if you’re not active, I feel like it’s another reason of anxiousness is because it, we need to exercise, we need fresh air, we need sunshine, we need to, everything’s air conditioning now. You don’t have to deal with the elements, you don’t have to deal with the heat, you don’t have to deal with the cold. So, you become kind of desensitized. And so yeah, for me, finding out what’s causing my problems, how can I properly manage ‘em? And then the other thing is getting outside, getting a workout, sauna. I’m a big advocate of the sauna. I think everybody should get in one. You want to talk about, yes, getting relaxed at the end of the day, I think it’s really good for you.

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I’m just curious how you’ve seen changes in approaches to coaching relative to mental health. You have an old-school coach like Fangio versus a little bit softer and more empathetic like Sirianni. How has the coaching approach changed?

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Football is a media-driven sport. It’s a fan-driven sport. So fans like the drama, the confrontation, I can tell you from being in the locker room that a lot of that stuff, it’s not sensationalized like it is in the paper, but what I will say is that players respond to different sorts of coaching. You can’t come talk to one player a certain way and expect to coach him the same way as another guy. So understand who your players are. And so one thing about the Eagles, they kind of do profiles of guys, what’s their best way to approach ‘em? Coaching techniques, I mean they kind of study all that. So yeah, everybody’s different. But I think that is important because yeah, some guys don’t agree to the hard coaching. Some guys don’t like being humiliated in front of their teams or ragged on. I don’t think that’s professional for coaches to do that, anyway. You can, but you’re going to get mixed responses out of it. So you might get diminished returns with that. But the Eagles do a good job with their coaches. And I’ll tell you, Coach Stout [sic] will chew kind of whoever, it don’t matter, but he does it in a way with love. He’s not trying to humiliate you. And so I’ve been very fortunate to be around coaches like that.

(25:36):

Good afternoon. Thanks for being here with us. It’s great. I’m a huge fan of the sport. I’m a Wolverine. So we’re not going to hold that against you. You do all the time, Susan but national champs, but national champs, let’s go.

 

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(25:48):

But more importantly, my dad played for the Saints, and yes, I saw much older than you, obviously. So saw his career then. And then the draft was just in Detroit, which is my hometown. If you were in a situation where you had the opportunity to talk to these young men that are just coming into this, what would you say to them about the journey that they’re going to go on?

(26:10):

Yeah, you need to prioritize mental health maybe more than anything. You got to learn that you can’t rely on opinions of others to guide your life. You can’t be an emotional rollercoaster based off what people think of you. So you really have to establish who you are and what you want to be. And then the next thing is, my coach says eliminate distractions. What are those distractions? The phones, the social media playing, the games going out at night. A lot of the complex issues that you have can be fixed by very simple measures, but a lot of it is ignore the noise. And what is that? You should be so busy. Like I said, I have an app called Habit Share, which is just your to-do list for the day. And, I’m attacking that stuff, and it seems childish, it seems stupid, but you’ll be surprised that people that won’t go through it.

(26:56):

So, I attack that every day. And then after all these days, all these hours add up, I’m going to be so much further ahead than somebody that’s, you know, hamster-wheeling in their head thinking they’re accomplishing a lot, but they’re really not. So yeah, my goal is for these young guys is to have a goal, attack it, eliminate the stuff that doesn’t matter, prioritize your family, your friends, and don’t give a damn about what people think about you playing football. There’s plenty of bigger news out there than that. And so for me, talking to the military people, that puts me back into perspective. You put guys like that stuff that are people that are really putting their lives on the line. So, realize what it is. This game’s all about the fans, it’s all about the love of football, and we should cherish it. It brings cities together, it brings people together, and yeah, it’s an amazing sport.

(27:48):

Go birds. So as the veterans in the locker room with the new guys coming in, great draft picks, by the way. Do you intentionally reach out to them and kind of talk to ‘em about the pressures that they’re going to face and how to handle that or?

(28:03):

Yeah, I mean, a lot of it’s breakfast in the cafe. I kind of get there early, and I kind of sit there and perch up and see who walks through the door. So, some of these new guys, I’ll come have breakfast with ‘em, and a lot of it is establishing where they want to live. I’ll kind of give recommendations on what they kind of like. And then, yeah, I’m just kind of like BG, the papa bear, the defense, and I’m the old guy, the offense. But yeah, I’m just kind of at anybody’s disposal. But a lot of stuff I do is just talking one-on-one after practice in the weight room stuff. So, I kind of find time to find time for everybody. But I think that’s important. I think BG might be the best at it, and that’s why he’s so loved in the city is because what you see is what you get. He is just a guy that puts it on the line for his teammates, and he’s very, very good with the young guys in developing them. And I think that’s important. That’s huge.

(28:55):

We’re all human. And I know after the Super Bowl that we lost, everybody was depressed. Do you allow yourself to get a little down in the dumps? I mean, you have to feel a little sad, or do you give yourself grace and say, I’m going to be miserable for two days, and then I’m snapping out of it? Wait, I have a follow-up. And if you’re not in the Super Bowl, do you watch the Super Bowl?

(29:19):

No, I really don’t watch any football outside of playing. Here’s what I realized that after I won, it was really for the city. It was for the fans, and I love it. But I got to tell you, I haven’t worn my Super Bowl ring one time. I don’t care to wear it. And what I realized that I was back to work about the same time after the win and the loss, now I would like to have that win against Kansas City. But in the grand scheme of things, I was back to work like nothing happened even when I won it. So yeah, for me, hey, it was tough. But I mean, I played so many games that I’m at a point now to where it doesn’t matter

(29:56):

As being a pioneer in the mental health field. And I know we’re not doctors, but what would you say to somebody who may not be, or who you recognize might be having a mental health issue but may not recognize it themselves? How would you get them help? Or what would you say to them?

(30:12):

Yeah, I mean really being an open ear, and kind of what happened, my roommate in college, he was an open ear to me. And so, through his experiences, he knew who to go to. Probably he got it from somebody else too. It is a chain reaction. So, for me, it’s having a one-on-one personal conversation. And that led to me going to somebody that was educated on the matter, led to me getting help. So, it all started there. So yeah, some people are very good at hiding it. A lot of people are very good at hiding it, but a lot of it you can kind of find through people that are isolating or kind of body language, but one-on-one conversation with somebody, and then honestly lead to medical practitioner or psychologist.

(30:55):

So, I’ve got a very important question lane myself. Any plans for a future Christmas album? Another one.

(31:01):

Yeah, we might be, we’ll see if Kelce, he’s only working one day a week, I think Monday nights.

(31:06):

Alright, he’s got time. He’s got time.

(31:08):

Yeah, we’ll get him in there.

(31:10):

And then a follow. So, who’s the pro bowler of the trio? Who’s got the pipes?

(31:15):

Jordan, definitely

(31:16):

Jordan. Okay.

(31:16):

Yeah, but Kelce has his niche, so he is like, I want him to sound like Bob Seeger. That’s what we’re trying to get into. Okay. He looks like he would sound like Bob Seeger. Yeah. But no, it’s been fun. I mean, we, honestly, Kelce and I love music. We knew Jordan could sing, but we just had a passion for it. And obviously, with how things have taken off with Kelce, he’s done good. We’ve raised a lot of money for CHOP, for Philadelphia charity, so that’s really where all the money’s going to. But it’s a fun time, and far as being a fish out of water and going into a studio, I’ve never practiced singing or do that. It’s like, okay, here we go. So it’s a humbling experience, but it was fun with Kelce and with Mailata, so it was a lot of fun.

(32:01):

Now we all love it. My kids love it. Brings a lot of entertainment around the holidays, so thank you for doing that. Well, any other questions?

(32:10):

Time for one more?

(32:11):

Yeah, one more question then.

(32:15):

You recently made your professional wrestling debut at WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia. Are there plans to do any more of that or anything more with entertainment after?

(32:25):

I know it seems like they get slammed around a little bit more than what I am. And I got to say, so going into the process, they really don’t tell you a whole lot. And so, Kelce and I really didn’t learn what we were going to do until about three hours before the show began. So, they keep it really under wraps. Got to Rey Mysterio and his son. So yeah, it was cool. But really, yeah, it’s just a huge, you’re going backstage, and then Triple H is back there kind of watching the production, and you have all the other wrestlers like lifting with their bands. They have their bottles for the sweat. So, it was just a big production. It was fun. And yeah, I mean there’s a lot of personalities in there and entertaining. But yeah, I was a big fan in the nineties attitude era. So, attitude-era folks out there, you all know. But no, it was fun. And yeah, we’ll see what happens after these years of playing football, but I’ll probably take a hard pass on a career.

(33:22):

On a career. Good move. Good move, Lane. Look, I want to thank you for being brave enough to be open and honest about your mental health journey. It’s been inspiring, and we look forward to seeing you take the field in a few months. So good luck. And go Eagles, go Birds. Hey,

(33:38):

Go.

(33:41):

That wraps up our special edition, paving the Lane to Mental Health. I want to thank Lane Johnson for joining us and providing our listeners with information on topics they truly care about like mental health. Please be sure to check out the show notes with photos and more information about mental health awareness @insights.ibx.com. I’m Susan Larkin, and this was IBX, The Cover Story. And now a quick word from this episode’s sponsor.

(34:16):

This episode is sponsored by Independence Blue Cross. In collaboration with Teladoc Health. Teladoc Health addresses a full range of health and well-being needs with industry-leading virtual care solutions from everyday health concerns, including urgent care and dermatology to chronic and primary care, to mental health programs that break through barriers, preventing or delaying people from seeking care. Teladoc puts more than 20 years of virtual care expertise to work for you. Programs are designed to improve clinical outcomes, boost member engagement, and meet the changing needs of a diverse population. Talk to your IBX representative for more information.