Lane Johnson, Stephen A. Smith and Not Really Caring About Others' Mental Health Unless They're Dead

Addressing a recent viral topic that blended sports and mental health together: All-Pro Lane Johnson's sudden retirement from the NFL this week, Stephen A. Smith's controversial reaction on Wednesday's episode of ESPN's First Take -- analysis on how this situation reflects poorly on all of us

I know: this is a little bit of a jarring headline considering we just finished our Suicide Prevention Awareness Month campaign.

So, let me explain.

While America was gearing up for another Sunday slate of NFL Football, surprising news broke out of Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Eagles, who were already struggling with a myriad of injuries to important players ahead of a big game at home vs the Super Bowl favorite Los Angeles Rams, would now be without Lane Johnson for the game. Johnson is one of the Eagles' very best players who has always been critical to their success since being drafted into the organization in 2013.

Longtime Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson.

The Eagles went on to choke away a 10-point 4th quarter lead and suffer a nauseating loss to the Rams, 24-20; the Eagles' second consecutive loss following a somewhat promising 2-0 start.

This isn't really the point of this piece, but: just to emphasize how sickening a loss this was to stomach for the fans, get a load of the Philly faithful eloquently speaking their minds while exiting Lincoln Financial Field following the game:

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni told media the day after the game that he didn't have an update on Lane Johnson's status moving forward. The following day on Tuesday, Lane Johnson decided to give an update on his own.

"...I've realized that my personal and family priorities in my life have changed. Right now, it is critical that I focus on my mental health... At this time, I have made the incredibly difficult decision to retire from the National Football League" — Lane Johnson's retirement announcement on social media

Eagles fans or otherwise that have known about Lane Johnson's backstory with the family priorities and mental health bouts that he mentioned in his retirement announcement largely met Johnson's decision with grace and understanding.

Johnson, one year after signing a contract that made him the highest-paid offensive lineman in the NFL, missed three games in the middle of the 2021 season due to a bout with depression and withdrawal symptoms from antidepressant SSRI medications.

Johnson had also missed time at Eagles training camp this summer due to family health concerns. Reports this summer surfaced that Johnson's mother has been battling Hodgkin's lymphoma and that his father may also be sick.

This context is crucial when it comes to first understanding Johnson's abrupt decision to walk away from the game that changed his life; it's also crucial to have when it's time to have a conversation about it.

Somewhere along the line at the "Worldwide Leader in Sports," the ball was dropped in that regard in majorly disappointing fashion.

On Wednesday's episode of First Take, the "leadoff" topic of the show was Lane Johnson's retirement. To be more specific, the topic bar read: "How Much Trouble Are [the] Eagles In Without Lane Johnson?"

So the topic of discussion wasn't even about the unfortunate and potentially dire circumstances that led to Johnson's retirement. The topic was about how the star offensive tackle's departure could derail the team; strictly in the football 'Xs and Os' sense.

Yet and still, somehow: Stephen A. Smith, arguably ESPN's most prominent face and voice, conflated the two in the worst fashion possible:

There was so much in just this one segment of television. First and foremost: while Smith is making it worse for himself word-by-word, the uncomfortable stares and body language from his colleagues at the desk is unbelievably telling.

Smith is a showman in every sense. He's created generational wealth for himself through bombastic performance art on television. Through that lens, it's not surprising at all that he went the route of taking Lane Johnson's retirement and using it to mock the sad state of affairs that is Philadelphia Eagles football right now.

After Smith finishes his performance, reporter Kimberly A. Martin has the unenviable task of trying to perform mop-up duty. She tells Smith that Johnson had been contemplating retirement "for a while," and that she feels that Smith "was making light of the situation."

I feel like you're making light of the situation. — Kimberly A. Martin

Making light? — Stephen A. Smith

Like, "playing with this team is what has set him [into saying] I can't do this anymore." — Kimberly A. Martin

Smith clearly wasn't getting the message while live on air, and it's clear he didn't gain some idea about how deep into the shit he had stepped until a couple hours later when it was time for his live, daily SiriusXM production, 'The Stephen A. Smith Show.'

This is where he went on to offer only a concept of an apology:

I'm being generous in calling this "a concept of an apology." I probably shouldn't have to explain this to people (or maybe I do), but "I'm sorry that you misconstrued what I said" is not an apology. It's a pathetic attempt to absolve yourself of any accountability without doing the actual work in being contrite, but it's not an apology.

What Smith did here is the equivalent of being in couples therapy and saying "I'm sorry that you feel that way" while your partner shoots you a nasty glance across the couch and the therapist jumps in to guide you on how to correctly apologize.

This only intensified the backlash toward Smith. It wasn't until the next morning's episode of First Take that he gave it another try and better landed the dismount.

"I was wrong to Lane Johnson. I was wrong to the Philadelphia Eagles. I messed up. Because I made light of the issue of mental health... in reflecting on it the last 24 hours or so... it does not stop there. Mental health is an incredibly serious issue. I know it, I went through it myself... Kimberly Martin... told me in real time yesterday that I was coming across as making light of the situation. That was... irresponsible on my part... there's a lot of people in the world going through mental health issues, and the biggest regret that I have for all of this is the fact that it may have given people that wanted to open the door to seek help a reason to pause and hesitate and not do so. And I can't emphasize enough how sorry I am about that." — Stephen A. Smith, Thursday, 10/8/26's episode of First Take

Credit to Stephen A. Smith for this. Considering the subject matter of all of this -- mental health -- I think it's irresponsible to question the level of contrition of what was a very thorough and much-needed apology.

What I want to do here is use this situation to shine a light on myself; on ourselves.

The truth of the matter is that we're all not perfect people. We can all do better when it comes to not only our mental health, but keeping others' mental health in heavy consideration.

Not to hurl clichés at you, but you never truly know what somebody is going through. It's paramount that when there is some idea of what somebody is battling (like what was apparent in Lane Johnson's history) that we keep that squarely in mind when interacting with them, or even more importantly when we discuss their situation on social media or on national television.

The title of this piece isn't really a blunt piece of social commentary as much as it is a personal reflection. Can we really say we're true mental health advocates if the best level of compassion and sensitivity we show towards people is after they've taken their own life or have passed away otherwise? I don't mean to be grim, but really think about it. I know for a fact that I can do much better than I've done in all aspects.

"As a person, I wish to see him smiling again. I wish to see him happy and at peace. That's what I sincerely wish for him." — Eagles QB Jalen Hurts on Lane Johnson following Johnson's retirement.

We can all be much more thoughtful in our handlings of and dealing with our neighbors. When it comes to Americans in particular, a troublesome economy, a struggling job market and the like have somehow made a lot of us less empathetic, not more.

It's a safe assumption that everyone is struggling in some way. If not financially, then maybe mentally or spiritually. Lane Johnson was paid very handsomely for his elite career work as a star offensive lineman ($166 million in career earnings throughout 14 years in the NFL). He is a 2-time Super Bowl champion, 6-time Pro Bowler and is universally recognized as one of the best players at his position ever. He still felt the need to walk away earlier than many expected him to.

Even in Stephen A. Smith's own case -- he had spoken publicly about his own struggles with mental health years before this controversy.

But as I said before: Smith is a showman -- a provocateur through and through. It's hard to be a multi-millionaire TV host otherwise. As unfortunate as it is to say, Smith's first thought upon receiving the news of Johnson's mental health-induced retirement isn't to be compassionate. Compassionate doesn't sell. Compassionate doesn't drive up ratings. Smith's been conditioned to always produce the most entertaining and "hot" take.

"The Eagles suck so bad right now that their players are walking away due to bad mental health! THAT'S provocative! That'll get the people going!"

But aren't a lot of us like that deep down?

In the age of social media especially, consider what gets the most likes, reposts, shares and views the majority of the time. It's loud, bright, funny, goofy, flash-and-dash, carefully curated, et cetera content. The entertaining stuff.

In that, genuineness can often get flushed out.

Some might even say that WE as consumers are partly to blame for Smith's failures on Wednesday morning. This is the monster we've created, is it not?

I've discussed this on past pieces, but networks and media outlets make the vast majority of their decisions around what gets the most ratings. Shows like First Take and The Pat McAfee Show do monster ratings for their slots.

Thus, Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee get the most exposure and the biggest paychecks, while proud journalistic programs get dismantled one-by-one.

That's capitalism for you, and Stephen A. Smith is a self-described capitalist. He didn't even need to describe himself as one for us to get it, it's very apparent without self-description.

The downside to always chasing and prioritizing the dollar: the other things that truly matter in this life get silver and bronze finishes.

And when the matter of mental health gets thrown to the wayside, the outcomes are never pretty.

Often times, they're even deadly.

Let's all try to get our shit together before we arrive at that point more often.