In a video promoting his work with SonderMind, a mental healthcare company, former Ohio State offensive lineman Harry Miller continued to talk about his relationship between mental health and bravery
“We were talking recently about bravery, about mental health and about bravery in the context of mental health,” Miller said. “And I wish bravery wasn’t a word that was required when we talk about mental health. I wish getting help was as trivial as getting a cough drop. And I think one day, it will be.”
With that, Miller, who retired from football due to mental health struggles, read a poem he wrote comparing a strong knight and a seemingly timid scarecrow.
“From a distance, bravery appeared as a tall knight brandishing bright, shining armor with a sword that of any man respect for garner,” Miller said. “And in the setting sun, he reflected brightly all that star’s light.
“But I got closer and I stepped on dead grass and dried crackling leaves that sent dark birds into flight. And I saw a scarecrow shaking in the cold air, covering in cheap tin foil that had rolled like a tumbleweed there. And in the setting sun, the crow seemed to laugh at him as they set themselves on his shoulders. And he looked afraid as he looked at that star’s dying light.
“And it was not a sword in his hands, but a dead, crooked stick he held tight. And his other hand was pressed to his stomach as pieces of straw fell between his straw fingers. He was falling apart as he hung on his crucifix. Who knew how long he had been there. And the setting sun could not set forever. And, as it always does, dying light became a dark and heavy night.
“But the man of straw remained and removed his hand from his leaking torso. And with his hand, he raised, with more might than any armored man, a barely burning lantern. And if a man found himself lost in that dark and heavy night, the man could turn and find there a glimpse of bravery, not of a tall might, burning in the sun, but of a struggling flame afraid held by a struggling hand alone raised in the night by a cold and shaking scarecrow.”
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Harry Miller has become an advocate for mental health
Miller has become an advocate for mental health after disclosing a meeting with Ohio State coach Ryan Day in which the offensive lineman told him he wanted to commit suicide. On NBC’s “Today” show shortly after his retirement announcement, Miller said his opening up about his mental illness stemmed from the idea that “somebody had to say something.”
Numerous athletes have followed in Miller’s footsteps, releasing mental health statements with the hashtags “Don’t make it weird” and “Dum Spiro Spero,” which translates to “While I breathe, I hope,” in Latin.
“People have called me brave,” Miller said, “but to me, it just felt like not dying. It felt like being honest. Maybe bravery is just being honest when it would be easier not to, and if that’s bravery, then so be it. I’ve just been really grateful to have received the help I have and to have learned some things I can share with others.”
Miller started at left guard in 2020 and was expected to be the Buckeyes’ center last year. But he was injured before the season opener against Minnesota and played sparingly.
Miller is a two-time OSU Scholar-Athlete, Academic All-Big Ten and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar who carries a 4.0 grade point average as an engineering major.
How to seek help
If you or someone you know is experiencing a behavioral health crisis or suicidal thoughts, you can reach Ohio’s 24/7 Crisis Text Line by texting 4HOPE to 741741, or call the Franklin County Suicide Prevention Hotline at 614-221-5445; the Teen Suicide Prevention Hotline at 614-294-3300; or the national Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255/TALK (1-888-628-9454 for Spanish speakers).
Ohio State football’s 2022 schedule
- Sept. 3:Ohio State 21, Notre Dame 10
- Sept. 10:Ohio State 45, Arkansas State 12
- Sept. 17:Ohio State 77, Toledo 21
- Sept. 24:Ohio State 52, Wisconsin 21
- Oct. 1: Ohio State 49, Rutgers 10
- Oct. 8:Ohio State 49, Michigan State 20
- Oct. 22:Ohio State vs. Iowa, Columbus, Ohio, noon
- Oct. 29:Ohio State vs. Penn State, State College, Pa., noon
- Nov. 5:Ohio State vs. Northwestern, Evanston, Ill.
- Nov. 12: Ohio State vs. Indiana, Columbus, Ohio
- Nov. 19:Ohio State vs. Maryland, College Park, Md.
- Nov. 26: Ohio State vs. Michigan, Columbus, Ohio, noon
