Tremendous Upside Podcast

Top athletes get real about their mental health.

Brian Dawkins

When Brian Dawkins was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he took the stage in front of tens of thousands of fans — and he got personal. He used his speech to talk about his struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts. Dawkins talks with host Chamique Holdsclaw about his unlikely path to the NFL, his rock-bottom moment, and how he got over the embarrassment of talking about his feelings: “When you begin to talk to people, what happens is the weight that you had is cut in half.”

Previous Episodes

When Brian Dawkins was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he took the stage in front of tens of thousands of fans — and he got personal. He used his speech to talk about his struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts. Dawkins talks with host Chamique Holdsclaw about his unlikely path to the NFL, his rock-bottom moment,…

As Kenny Anderson says, “Basketball is easy. Life is hard.” Kenny was one of the best high school basketball players of all time, but his early success hid the trauma of his childhood. Now retired from the NBA, he talks to host Chamique Holdsclaw about how he went from trying to mask the pain to addressing it head on….

Suzy Favor Hamilton once clocked in as the fastest female middle-distance runner in the world. But after an epic fall on the track at the 2000 Olympics, her career was over. She worked to build a life outside of running, but struggled with undiagnosed bipolar disorder. Her private life became shockingly public when reporters revealed that she was working…

Theo Fleury hit the ice at age five. He was a hockey phenom at 14, a Stanley Cup champion at 20 and an Olympic gold medalist at 33. He was also keeping a terrible secret. As a teen, he was sexually assaulted by one of his coaches. Hockey became an escape, but it couldn’t fix everything; he faced addiction…

In 1999, goalie Briana Scurry delivered the epic game-deciding save that won the Women’s World Cup for the U.S. But the two-time Olympic gold medalist considers her most important accomplishment to be advocating on behalf of people with traumatic brain injuries. After she took a knee to the head during a game in 2010, she went down a three-year-long…

Chamique talks with her childhood friend, NBA All-Star Metta World Peace, formerly known as Ron Artest, about anger, meditation and that infamous night in Detroit. World Peace grew up in the Queensbridge housing project, and found himself making millions in the NBA at 19. What happens when you achieve your dream, but you’re not ready for it?

When they’re playing, they’re perfect: superstars at the top of their game. But when the crowds go home and the cameras turn off, there’s a side to athletes that people rarely see. Six-time WNBA All-Star Chamique Holdsclaw talks with top athletes about the realities of mental health in the world of sports. Coming January 13.