RIP Kenny McKinley

According to the National Institutes of Health, suicide is the third leading cause of death for people ages 15-24, and four times more suicides are committed by men rather than women. The silent culprit, depression. In more than 50% of cases, suicide attempts become reality due to a firearm being present in the home. Kenny McKinley, Denver Broncos wide receiver, age 23, unfortunately fit the profile to a tee.

At South Carolina, McKinley had 207 receptions, making him placing him SC's all time leading receiver, and third in the Southeastern Conference. His senior year playing time was cut short do to a hamstring injury, but still, he was drafted in the fifth round, fifth pick to the Denver Broncos signing a 2 million dollar contract. Kenny played eight games in his rookie 2009 season before a knee injury put him on the bench. He was on the 2010 injured reserve list only to be re-injured his first week at training camp.

Two days ago, Kenny was found dead by a self-inflicted gun shot wound, just two days after bringing his two-year old son to live with him in Texas. Reports are swirling about mention of committing suicide during a domino's game shortly after surgery, and even though close to Kenny admit that he was having a difficult time not practicing and being with his team consistently, no one suspected he was capable of suicide.

When looking at what happened here, its hard no to mention 25 year old LPGA tour pro, Erica Blasberg, who also committed suicide last May following a back injury. Her father acknowledges that Erica did in fact exhibit signs of depression, and there was discussion about her leaving golf. The point is that there is a definite trend for injuries and concurrent depression in athletes, and maybe just as an EKG is standard and routine, so should a psych evaluation and counseling following injury. no research exists directly correlating suicide and injury in athletes, but in 1994, the Journal of Athletic Training and Medicine, the Research Quarterly for Exercise, and Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, all released publication trending depression with concurrent injury in professional athletes with the later journal specifically addressing retired players. Statistics have shown what we are witnessing in real time, and tools have been created to try and isolate cases such as these with a mere questionnaire. I think it might be time to pay the $30 bucks to Kinko's, make some copies, and see if we can help anybody. Ironically this comes at a time when just last Monday Reggie Bush broke his leg... I'm not saying Reggie is gonna kill himself, I'm just saying lets give the players that we watch every weekend and celebrate, the support they need as individuals.

RIP Kenny and Erica.