Andy Reid says he’s proud of Willie Gay for speaking up about mental health – Arrowhead Pride

After Kansas City Chiefs second-year linebacker Willie Gay Jr. finished up his return-to-practice week on Friday ahead of the team’s Sunday Night Football game against the Buffalo Bills, he sent out a tweet regarding the state of his mental health.

The tweet led to an outpouring of support for the linebacker, which, at this writing, includes nearly 1,000 replies, 500 retweets and 7,000 likes. The Chiefs activated Gay on Saturday and he officially returned to the field on Sunday, finishing with two tackles in limited playing time.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said he felt glad Gay expressed his feelings when asked about the situation on Wednesday.

“Well, I’m proud of [Gay] for mentioning it,” said Reid. “A lot of people don’t mention it, which I think is a great tribute to the kid for bringing it forward. We’ve got Dr. T (Dr. Shaun Tyrance) here, which we’re glad we have, and so he’s able to talk to him and address the problem. I think that’s a beautiful thing. So many people keep this hidden and then disastrous things happen. I’m just glad he came forward with it.”

The Chiefs were in communication with Gay throughout the weekend to make sure he was in the right state of mind to take the field.

“We stay in touch with him, for sure. Make sure he’s OK. We try not to let any of that stuff slide the best way we can.”

The Chiefs added Tyrance to their staff back in June of 2019.