AVERY ATKINS FOUND DEAD IN CAR

You know, this is probably not the right post for an embedded Viagra ad.

Hope the Atkins story is somehow not actually true.

Nebraska Furniture Mart Summer 2007 Catalog?

Here’s a link to the article in the local paper:

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/breakingnews/death.htm

Now that both the boner ad and the veracity are taken care of… this sucks.

Heartfelt condolences to the Atkins family. It’s an awful, awful shame to see such gifted young men throw it all away like that. The only small measure of relief is that he found a way to free himself from the demons that haunted his life. It’s just very sad that it had to happen by—apparently—taking his own life.

May he rest in peace.

Nothing good about this entire situation. Breaks the heart.

Damn, that sucks. I read about the crack possession charge yesterday. He was a super talented football player, but obviously had some problems making the right decisions. It was cool to see someone who had played local high school football sign on and contribute to my alma mater’s team. Sadly, it was just a brief stint.

If I hear any updates I’ll be sure to send them your way Orson.

Can’t say it any better than OPS in #4.

Peace be with the Atkins family.

In this modern time, almost anyone with problems can be helped, and improve their psychological conditions. The only question is, does the person want help? Unfortunately for Avery and his family, it appears that he either did not get the help he needed or rejected the opportunity. Either way, people need to realize the signs of depression/destructive behavior and do as much as one can to make the person understand that you can change and help is out there.

shits fucked

Robert, that is the worst part. He had a family who wanted to help. He just miscalculated the severity of the situations he was in, and overreacted disastrously several times.

You always hate to hear about this kind of thing. Sad.

But where exactly did a comment about Nebraska Furniture Mart come from?

Yeah Orson, that’s the tragic thing about this situation, and the family will probably feel very guilty themselves about not getting through to them. I’ve personally dealt with this situation before, and the sad thing is that all you can do is try and get them help—you can’t make people get help. Sometimes people want help, sometimes they don’t…and apparently Avery didn’t. I just wish someone could have told him that it didn’t have to end like this.

Got it through to him…fixed.

Pete- there were several banner ads for Neb Furniture on the link from Orson’s post. Absolutely 100% off topic. Just seemed odd for Nebraska Furniture ads on a Florida news website.

Jesus that’s sad. That kid had so much potential…I really hoped he would get his shit together and make it back to UF some day.

The supremely talented live their lives on the edge. From a young age they’re told that they’re the greatest and things seem to be so easy for them. But when they’re not doing that one thing that they’re so good at, they’re often tortured and suffer from a complete lack of impulse control. My condolences to his family, his friends, and everyone who’ll notice that he’s gone. The only good that can come out of this is if there’s someone, somewhere, who puts down the pipe because of his end.

I’m not going to lie… my initial response was “just another prima dona athlete that has wasted his/her life”. But, you guys are right… we tend to forget that off of the pedestal… these are people in their late teen/early twenties with the same issues we all face or faced. And sadly, sometimes there doesn’t seem to be many choices.

Ditto to OPS… nicely done.

Here’s Avery, talking about being a freshman playing on Senior Day (he had a great game vs FSU). I hope he’s remembered this way, at his best, not his worst. R.I.P.

"I look up to [outgoing senior Vernell Brown] like a big brother," said Atkins, the freshman from Daytona Beach who was a four-star recruit for the Gators just last February. "All I could think about was him and how he wanted to go out with a big bang and this is his last game so I just wanted to go out and play my hardest."

To expand on what JebusHChrist said, there are some alarming suicide rates for athletes at the higher levels when they are no longer able to play the game they love and have dedicated pretty much their entire life to. There is a book called “Silence of the Heart” that came out in 2001. In it the author tries to figure out why there have been over 100 suicides by Cricket players over the last century. It’s simply mind-boggling. The knee-jerk response is obviously to start providing help to people before they approach the time to leave the game, but that may not always work.

I wish the best to Mr. Atkins’ family, and hope that somehow, someway something good comes from this.

“In this modern time, almost anyone with problems can be helped, and improve their psychological conditions. The only question is, does the person want help? Unfortunately for Avery and his family, it appears that he either did not get the help he needed or rejected the opportunity.”

With all due respect, Robert, I think that is an oversimplification. One of the major characteristics of depression is impaired judgement— it’s not that people don’t want help; it’s just that they don’t feel like anything COULD help. And for a small but substantial percentage, nothing does— even among those treated for depression, 2% who receive outpatient treatment and 4% inpatient care will die by suicide (figures from the NIMH).

People with mental illness are so stigmatized and demoralized already—blaming them for not wanting to get better is a fundamentalmisunderstanding of their condition (and I’m pretty sure that’s not what you were doing, but I think it’s still an important point to make.)

Good comment TCOAN.
There’s a psychologist who works at a teen prison on my softball team, and I’ve talked to him about this stuff before. He’s a good guy, but it just doesn’t seem like he (or any of the psych majors I met in college) has enough mental firepower to help. I get the feeling that very few psychologists and psychiatrists understand depression.

People w/ mental illness have help available to them, but I can understand how they’d be skeptical of whether that help will solve their depression rather than just masking it w/ drugs or whatever.

Terribly tragic, indeed. I think I have to agree with TCOAN, very well put my friend.

I know we spend a lot of time arguing and making fun of the knuckleheads running around making a fool of themselves (and our universities), but when it comes to someone actually taking their own life it’s a little more serious than some young punk out there ripping and running til 4:00am.

By no means am I diminishing those idiots, nor am I trying to make this kid out to be some innocent, defenseless victim, but what I guess I am trying to say is that for one to take their own life something had to be terribly wrong, either emotionally or mentally. And that is, to me, what is tragic about this story. It doesn’t really matter to me that he was super talented or a one time high profile athlete, that only serves as a footnote and provokes the voice inside to say, “what the F was he thinking?” My guess is that he was thinking that his life sucked and it was time to check out, and for someone to have been in a place most of us would give anything to be (on the football field playing for the team we love) and still think his life sucks bad enough that he wants to kill himself tells me that it had to have been pretty bad walking in his shoes. I can’t imagine life ever getting that bad and I’ve never had the opportunity or the ability to chase a dream like playing college ball for the Buckeyes.

TCOAN,
This is a common problem I have when I try and write something substantive. It makes sense when I read it, but often others reading it get the wrong impression/whatever thing I was trying to say. First off, I’d like to state that I am not a mental health care professional, only that I have recently dealt with similar issues with people close to me. You are right: I was grossly oversimplifying things, but my point was aimed more towards those around the depressed/potentially suicidal person. I was not trying to blame any of these people with said problems. The point I was trying to make was for family members, close friends, significant others etc need to get these people to the professionals that can help them, and they need to keep trying to get them there. I was not trying to blame those who are depressed and suicidal at all. I think (and hope) this misunderstanding of points I was trying to make as well as your cleaning up of my half-assed generalizations can get someone to some help.

tOSUBuckeyes,

You asked “What the F was he thinking?” I will tell you. He was thinking “It’s all gone. My life is over. I want out. I want to leave.”

TCOAN,

To put a fine point on what you said, many in the black community stigmatize mental help, which makes it even tougher. And their situation produces much more illness.

Dear NCAA – Let Alumni talk to the damn players. They are starving for direction, and it takes more than a defensive coordinator and a secondary coach to do that.

Very very very sad. A tragic loss of life. I wish someone could have been there for him.

I’m not eloquent and rarely post.

My feeling is not all illegal drug use is “recreational”.

Sometimes the demons one is trying to quiet are really, really loud, unbearably so.

Peace on him.

Condolences to the friends and family of Avery Atkins upon this profound loss.

Honestly,
Everyone is saying suicide, suicide. I don’t think ( I hope) that it wasn’t as so much that. I went to school with Avery, grew up with him, I was in the Sports Science Academy when he was playing football at Mainland High School, He was a good friend. And many many people Loved, and still do Love him. But it seems as if there are too many reasons to why he died going around, I saw him July the 4th,(the night he died) There are so many rumors people are spreading around (not saying that anyone on here is) But honestly he was going through a lot in his life, and i know at the same time trying to work on his flaws in life to get that bitter taste out of peoples mouth about him, He was a very good guy and it seemed as if everyone knew but couldn’t give Aj the credit of that! This guy bussed his butt to try to provide for his child and famly, Which maybe was 1 of the reasons he got caught with drugs (trying to sell them) i’m sorry, but in my neighborhood it is very hard for a young black male to get a very good descent job around here, high school diploma or not! Fame or not! So as far as him being arrested with it, was mainly because he was trying to make money. His family is living well, and he didn’t have to do those things he did. Well, half of what they say. But I knew him, and I know he was the type to go out and get his own. He’s really not the type to ask people for things (money & ect) So he did what he felt he had to do. (which he didn’t) As far as those charges go, you can’t believe everything you hear or see in the papers without actually being there you know? Once he was blamed for the abuse, he beat the charge, but the same thing happens again, By it being his childs mother they’re not going to even think twice of hearing both sides of the story. So that really took a toll on him too because it sees as if his dreams were crushed/ someone rained on his parade, if you will. So i’m just saying nobody can really state that it’s a suicide. because of the simple fact that maybe he took a drug and it was bad, maybe it was suicide, maybe he took a drug and didn’t mean to take so much (accidentally killing himself) I mean nobody knows! Nobody but Avery Jamar Atkins and GOD, And I promise you if he was still here today he would be able to defend himself as he would want his family and friends to. I just ask that you guys remember the good that these people have done in their life, and not look at the negative things. It’s suppose to be a home-going, a celebration! To uplife spirits not bring them down.

May GOD be with you all!
God Bless!- T. Wolfe

I went to school with Avery too. He was a great kid. He is greatly missed by everyone.

RIP Avery