Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Fighting depression
Former Dolphin LB Hollier works through NFL to help others
Ex-Dolphin Dwight Hollier helps others cope.
One simple phrase hit Dwight Hollier like an offensive guard barreling down on a run block. He’d just turned 28, and suddenly, his Miami Dolphins teammates expected him to get around at training camp with a cane.
Just barely beyond his fifth season in the NFL, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing from the neophytes on the Dolphins’ roster. He’s never forgotten it, but the silver lining is that it helped shape his future.
“They started calling me ‘the old dude’ in the locker room,” said Hollier. “When you’re 28 and they’re calling you the old dude, you might want to start looking for something else to do.”
Hollier did what he could to prepare himself for life after football. He began studying for a master’s degree in counseling in Davie at Nova Southeastern University, across the street from the Dolphins’ training facility.
He ended up playing nine seasons as a linebacker in the NFL — eight with the Dolphins (1992-99) and one with the Indianapolis Colts (2000). After his long career, moving on to his post-football existence was difficult.
“Anybody that’s been the best of the best at what they do, then suddenly that’s not there for you, it’s going to impact you in some way,” Hollier said. “I was certainly impacted by it. I missed the camaraderie, the locker room, the brotherhood. There were a number of things that created a void.”
Hollier endured long stretches of inexplicable sadness in his post-NFL playing days. He became withdrawn.
Depression set in.
“There’s no question I was depressed, and have been depressed since,” said Hollier, who lives in Weddington, N.C., with his wife and two children. “It’s an ongoing battle, but I’m thankful for the resources and thankful for the personal acknowledgement that I’m dealing with something. Too many times people try to ignore it, push through it and do what we were taught as kids to do, which is suck it up. That can lead to some worse circumstances.
“I spent years beating myself up because I only played nine years in the NFL. I think about that now, and it’s so ridiculous, but the fact that I didn’t play 10 years hurt me for a long time. I had to come to a reckoning.”
Leaning on the support of his friends and trusted advisers after his playing career, Hollier began to put his studies to good use. He worked in the healthcare field for 12 years, serving as a healthcare program manager, a school-based therapist and working in private practice for six years, before he was hired in 2013 by the NFL.
Now, he’s the vice president of Wellness and Clinical Services in the Player Engagement department of the NFL. He crafts educational programs, professional development and continuing education opportunities for players, as well as helping organize mental health initiatives.
His message isn’t complicated. For players struggling with depression, or having a rough time transitioning into a life without football, there’s help.
“Nobody is going to go, ‘Boo hoo, poor NFL guy was sad,’ and I get that,” Hollier said. “I just want to acknowledge that anyone can go through this.
“I think about how if a guy like me, who played a good number of years and went back to school, didn’t make a lot of money, but didn’t spend a lot of money, married up and all these things, and I can still struggle the way I did, then what happens to the guy who only played two years when he thought he was going to play 10 and didn’t finish his undergrad degree? Those are driving forces for me.”
Hollier, 49, played 122 games with Miami, starting 54. He had two interceptions and a forced fumble with the Dolphins and had a career-high 94 tackles in 1993.