Ohio State Player Harry Miller Medically Retiring from Football

INDIANAPOLIS%2C+IN+-+DECEMBER+19%3A+Ohio+State+Buckeyes+offensive+lineman+Harry+Miller+%2876%29+in+action+during+the+Big+Ten+Championship+game+between+the+Ohio+State+Buckeyes+and+the+Northwestern+Wildcats+on+December+19%2C+2020+at+Lucas+Oil+stadium%2C+in+Indianapolis%2C+IN.+%28Photo+by+Robin+Alam%2FIcon+Sportswire+via+Getty+Images%29

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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – DECEMBER 19: Ohio State Buckeyes offensive lineman Harry Miller (76) in action during the Big Ten Championship game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Northwestern Wildcats on December 19, 2020 at Lucas Oil stadium, in Indianapolis, IN. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Bianca Schnerre, Writer

Ohio State offensive lineman, Harry Miller, is medically retiring from his college football career referencing his mental health. In a statement he released to his Instagram, h_miller76, last Thursday Miller explains why he is retiring from his football career. To view his instagram profile since he’s released the statement you need to be 18+ due to the topics of suicide and self harm mentioned in the statement. In the statement Miller expressed that he wanted to take his life prior to the 2021 football season and had expressed that to Ohio State’s head football coach Ryan Day. According to Miller, Day immediately got him in touch with medical professionals and Miller was able to receive the support he needed. After receiving help Miller tried playing football again, but states that “There was a dead man on the television set, but nobody knew it.”

Miller then goes on to talk about being reduced to his initials and a sticker on the back of his helmet, and talking about how he had seen others seek help and seen the dismissing of “others by talking about how they were just a dumb, college kid who didn’t know anything.”

Miller maintains a 4.0 gpa at the University of Ohio State for engineering and he talks about how he is lucky in that aspect and hopes his hurt can be taken seriously claiming that “for some reason, pain must have prerequisites” and vouches for other people that are hurt but not taken seriously.

At the end of Miller’s statement he talks about his gratitude for Coach Day’s infrastructure in place at Ohio State and the ability to now find a way to help others in the program. Miller voices that he hopes athletic departments around the country do the same, expressing “If not for him and the staff, my words would not be a reflection. They would be evidence in a post-mortem.”

Harry Miller did a brave thing and hopefully student athlete mental health can be prioritized in schools around the country.