Gracie & Will Blackmon on Pro Football, Winning a Super Bowl, & Surviving the NFL

And so this, important here is, so when I was young, I was six, I lost my mother-

Oh, I'm sorry

... um, when I was six years old, and- Immediately I started playing football.

Mm.

So, but I always, I always loved it in general.

We had a, we had a football house.

Like, we were into it.

So that was kinda like, that was the one place where I legit had full control of what's going on.

Mm.

You know? 'Cause even after she passed away, we never, we never had a chance to grieve, we never had a chance to really talk about it.

We, um, you know, my dad went to work, my siblings went to school, I went to school, and that was it, you know? Nevertheless, I had a great childhood 'cause I didn't, I didn't know any different, you know?

Yeah.

Um, like my dad worked all the time but never missed a game, you know? So it was cool, but I think for me, that was the one place where, um, I had complete control, and like had true, like enjoyment.

It was almost like an escape for you from that pain.

Yeah.

I mean, I hate, I hate using the word escape, because I wasn't trying to get away from reality.

Yeah.

You know? 'Cause w- when I went home, I didn't go home and I was like, you know, hid and-

Yeah

... cried all day, you know? Um, like I said, I had a, a cool childhood e- even though it's, it's funny, this is, you know, I haven't said this to anybody, but I'm like, I started therapy just to, you know, learn more about myself and talk about it.

Yeah.

[laughs]

When did you, when did you start therapy?

Probably a coup- like a month ago.

Oh, this is recent.