Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. My name is Lindsay Young and I am
Speaker 1: a writer and assistant editor here with the Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us for our third
Speaker 1: installment of the Getting Open series that focuses on all
Speaker 1: things mental health. We kicked off this series by talking
Speaker 1: to Vikings defensive lineman jail And Holmes, and last week
Speaker 1: we chatted with All Pro linebacker Eric Kendricks and his
Speaker 1: fiance Ali Cortnall. Over the next several weeks, you will
Speaker 1: continue to hear personal player stories, organizational initiatives, and also
Speaker 1: more about foundations that support this area of mental health. Today,
Speaker 1: we're sitting down with Vikings tight end Tyler Conklin. The
Speaker 1: twenty twenty season marked Tyler's third with Minnesota, and there's
Speaker 1: no denying the impact that he had on the field.
Speaker 1: But what fans might not know is the difference he
Speaker 1: also makes off the field with an organization called No Resolve.
Speaker 1: For Tyler and his family, mental health and suicide awareness
Speaker 1: are topics close to their heart. In twenty eighteen and
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, you know, for the Vikings might cause my
Speaker 1: cleats game, you wrapped No Resolve. Can you just tell
Speaker 1: us a little bit about that organization and its mission. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so No Resolve was created by Dennis Leggio. He started
Speaker 1: because his dad committed suicide. So No Resolve is a
Speaker 1: nonprofit as dedicated to promoting mental health, preventing you, and
Speaker 1: preventing youth suicide throughout through reaching, advocacy and education. So
Speaker 1: can you tell us a little bit about the personal
Speaker 1: connection that your family has with No Resolve. I know
Speaker 1: that you've had some involvement with them and as well
Speaker 1: as your mom. Tell us a little bit about that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so I had an involvement with them through because they
Speaker 1: came and they did an event at our school. Well,
Speaker 1: my mom has no DNIS for a long time. They
Speaker 1: met at a conference in the nineties and they realized
Speaker 1: they had similar plans, and because of their experiences with suicide,
Speaker 1: my mom got Dennis to come and do his first
Speaker 1: ever event at middle school Central where she worked at
Speaker 1: and he did that in nineteen ninety nine, which was
Speaker 1: two years after my mom's brother committed suicide. And since then,
Speaker 1: my mom and Dennis had done a ton of the
Speaker 1: community together. No Resolve is not nationwide and they travel
Speaker 1: the country. I'm telling his story and helping raise awareness
Speaker 1: and he does it in a pretty neat way with
Speaker 1: his musician, so he does it like singing songs and
Speaker 1: with his guitar and stuff. So their events are usually awesome.
Speaker 1: And they recently just opened a teen center and Shelby
Speaker 1: Township and the Team centers kind of a place where
Speaker 1: youth and people who can just go kind of like
Speaker 1: a safe place where they have people that you can
Speaker 1: talk to, or just a video game room and all
Speaker 1: these different things where you can just go. And it
Speaker 1: TOLDO just be a safe place for kids in the areas,
Speaker 1: you know, for having a hard time or really dealing
Speaker 1: with some stuff where they can kind of go and
Speaker 1: get away and either get help or kind of just
Speaker 1: get away and have some time to theirselves. You mentioned
Speaker 1: that your mom's brother committed suicide. How old were you
Speaker 1: when that happened and what impact has that had on you.
Speaker 1: I was too year old when he committed suicide. Um,
Speaker 1: and obviously I don't really remember too much about it.
Speaker 1: But I've got to watch my mom and see how
Speaker 1: it's affecting my mom throughout her life. And you don't
Speaker 1: have a little brother and a little sister, so to
Speaker 1: think about losing two of the most important people in
Speaker 1: my life, and I can't even fathom the pain that
Speaker 1: that that would bring. And I've really watched my mom
Speaker 1: kind of take that pain and the struggle and turn
Speaker 1: into something really positive for her community and and herself.
Speaker 1: You know, I didn't really get to see her or
Speaker 1: I don't remember like how she was when, you know,
Speaker 1: when it just happened or whatnot, but you know the
Speaker 1: thing that she's done with creating. Uh. So, there's a
Speaker 1: community Action Coalition in our community. It was just called
Speaker 1: what's called something different before, but it's like ten people
Speaker 1: on a panel and they it just came in and
Speaker 1: they did stel to prevent you know, George, substance abuse, suicide, prevention,
Speaker 1: bullying and prevention. And they come together every month and
Speaker 1: they you know, Matt and talked about the community and
Speaker 1: different things going on and how could they could prevent
Speaker 1: some of these things. So my mom took over and
Speaker 1: became the chair in nineteen ninety nine with David Brown,
Speaker 1: and like I said, there's only ten people in the committee,
Speaker 1: and by the time she retired, it was there's eleven
Speaker 1: coalitions in our in our county and MCCO and ours
Speaker 1: was top three. The coalition was top three and they
Speaker 1: did just a ton of work, you know, every year
Speaker 1: and every monthly. Man, I was a part of it
Speaker 1: from seventh grade to my senior year high school. And um,
Speaker 1: something just like the fire and the motivation that created
Speaker 1: and the way my mom kind of turned that pain
Speaker 1: in a hard time into something positive for other people
Speaker 1: was you know, huge for me to see. Have you
Speaker 1: ever had any experiences where people approach you or your
Speaker 1: mom who have been able to share how her efforts
Speaker 1: have made a difference in their life or in a
Speaker 1: loved one's life. I guess have you been able to
Speaker 1: see those personal those personal stories of change. I've seen
Speaker 1: it a little bit. Um. You know, my mom, she's
Speaker 1: a private counselor on the side too, and she works
Speaker 1: with all types of people. But I see a lot
Speaker 1: of it because I mean sometimes I'll stop in on
Speaker 1: maybe one of her clients as a younger kid or
Speaker 1: a middle school creator Derek Kay wants to see me,
Speaker 1: or I'll stop in and you know, sign something for
Speaker 1: him or hang out, and you know, I can just
Speaker 1: you know, I'll talk to them for a little bit
Speaker 1: and I can obviously see you no when I sit
Speaker 1: there and talk to them, how much you know it
Speaker 1: helps them, and how much it means to them that
Speaker 1: she's there for him. So, like I've seen in a different,
Speaker 1: you know, spots like that, whether I'm kind of just
Speaker 1: or like that coalition where you know, just hearing kids
Speaker 1: talk about her, whether it's previous or present, and it's
Speaker 1: definitely a good feeling to all to see how much
Speaker 1: she's helping too. So you've talked a little bit about
Speaker 1: how mental health obviously has impacted your family. Have you
Speaker 1: personally been impacted by any mental health challenges? If so,
Speaker 1: what does that look like in your daily life. This
Speaker 1: is a hard thing for me to talk about, it
Speaker 1: feel like because I'm something I haven't really talked about
Speaker 1: a lot, and I feel like that's kind of kind
Speaker 1: of a sta stigma of men is. You know, we
Speaker 1: don't we bottle stuff up, we don't talk about things.
Speaker 1: So it kind of took me a while to ever
Speaker 1: realize if I did deal with mental health battles, you know.
Speaker 1: And I think the main thing that I really deal
Speaker 1: with that I've really kind of been going to acknowledge
Speaker 1: is anxiety. Anxiety is something I feel like I did
Speaker 1: with a lot um sometimes obviously worse than others, and
Speaker 1: it could be you know, sometimes it's just the fact that, um,
Speaker 1: and I'm always thinking about what I have to do,
Speaker 1: no matter how big or little the task is. You
Speaker 1: I gotta do this, I got to do that, And
Speaker 1: to do that kind of can take away take away
Speaker 1: a lot of joy and fun and doing things sometimes
Speaker 1: they're just living life because you can't. I can't just
Speaker 1: you know, sit down and relax, and I'm always think, Okay,
Speaker 1: I gotta do this, I gotta do that, I gotta
Speaker 1: do this, and it can just be overwhelming, you know
Speaker 1: it to never really let your brain rest or never
Speaker 1: you know, you get that feeling in your stomach, and
Speaker 1: the longest time, I never really understood, like I just
Speaker 1: know my stomach feels funny here, you know, when you
Speaker 1: kind of learn about it and you realize, like that
Speaker 1: pin in your stomach is you know a little bit
Speaker 1: of anxiety. And so I feel like I've done to
Speaker 1: kind of cope with that. Is you know, I'm really big,
Speaker 1: I really got big into you know, making lists, and
Speaker 1: it makes me really task oriented. But it really helps
Speaker 1: me a lot to just you know, I'm constantly making
Speaker 1: a list on my phone, or writing it down to
Speaker 1: just you know, make my after I get it down
Speaker 1: on paper, right down, it kind of makes me build
Speaker 1: to relax a little bits. And now I know where said.
Speaker 1: I know when I got to do it. Instead of
Speaker 1: just constantly thinking about, Okay, I gotta do this, I
Speaker 1: gotta do this, I'll just start repeating stuff in my head,
Speaker 1: you know, until it gets done. So writing stuff down
Speaker 1: has really helped me. And you know, obviously working out
Speaker 1: and doing different things always is always beneficial for me
Speaker 1: to kind of get my mind off of things and
Speaker 1: being clean, you know, whether it's cleaning my car, my locker,
Speaker 1: or the house. You know, whenever I'm if I have anxiety,
Speaker 1: because I don't have anxiety, don't have nothing to do,
Speaker 1: you know, and I don't know what to do with myself,
Speaker 1: so I'll just you know, clean up. And accomplishing a
Speaker 1: productive task or something always kind of seems to benefit me.
Speaker 1: Are there any people in your life specifically that have
Speaker 1: been like a great support system or just kind of understanding,
Speaker 1: you know, when you do go through these times that
Speaker 1: are maybe a higher anxiety moments. I'm not blessed. I
Speaker 1: have a really good family and we're extremely open. We
Speaker 1: talked about everything, and I mean, that's that's beneficial. And
Speaker 1: I think the biggest person that probably gets to see
Speaker 1: it now with my girlfriend because she lives with me,
Speaker 1: so she's a lot probably she's a lot more carefree
Speaker 1: and kind of just goes with the flow. And then
Speaker 1: I'm pretty you know, because of my anxiety, I'm really
Speaker 1: task boring it and you know, get this done, get
Speaker 1: this done, get that done. So I know for a
Speaker 1: fact she can tell, you know, when I have anxiety
Speaker 1: or or whatnot, because I'm always turning to help repeating
Speaker 1: the list of things I need to do, or I'm
Speaker 1: asking her how can you do this and do that
Speaker 1: and um, And she does a really good job, you know,
Speaker 1: helping me or either accomplish a task so I can
Speaker 1: kind of relax a little bit or um, you know,
Speaker 1: not get annoyed with me because I'm over here trying
Speaker 1: to ask her to get stuff done and for me
Speaker 1: to get stuff done and whatnot. So she's probably the
Speaker 1: person that sees it the most, and she has a
Speaker 1: great job helping me kind of navigate it. So a
Speaker 1: lot of Vikings fans this past season read about your
Speaker 1: two pups, Alaska and Luna. Does having pets help at
Speaker 1: all with anxiety? Yeah, I think it does. I think
Speaker 1: it helps a lot, whether it's just you know, laying
Speaker 1: around cuddling them, talking to them even though they can't
Speaker 1: understand what the heck you're saying. But I think it
Speaker 1: helps a little bit, a little bit of pet therapy.
Speaker 1: We're in the up right now and market and actually
Speaker 1: Laska got out and ran away for a little bit
Speaker 1: the other day, so that didn't help my anxiety very much,
Speaker 1: but we got him back, So I think it definitely
Speaker 1: has his benefits, unless they just had to run away
Speaker 1: for a little a little bit. In the NFL in general,
Speaker 1: there are so many ups and downs, right and then
Speaker 1: this past season twenty twenty has just been crazy. Whether
Speaker 1: it's the pandemic, whether it's racial injustices going on. So
Speaker 1: much to think about and so much to kind of
Speaker 1: be concerned about. When you're in the middle of a
Speaker 1: football season, which is obviously extra busy for you, how
Speaker 1: do you prioritize your mental health as well as your
Speaker 1: physical health, you know, obviously with the pandemic and COVID
Speaker 1: or what now. We had an off season last year
Speaker 1: and no, I think that was really beneficial to me.
Speaker 1: I mean, the physical part of things, I've always really
Speaker 1: been pretty good about and it's always been such a
Speaker 1: release for me. And so we're somewhere and get my
Speaker 1: mind off of that. That's always kind of been the
Speaker 1: first thing I've always gone to. So, you know, before
Speaker 1: I even realized I had anxiety or you know, dealing
Speaker 1: with some stuff that you know, working, I was always
Speaker 1: that made me feel better. So I think during the
Speaker 1: pandemic this year, you know, being able to have the
Speaker 1: time to sit back and reflect and not be able
Speaker 1: to do anything you're stuck in the house with your family,
Speaker 1: and you know, just finding different outlets that way. And
Speaker 1: you know, like greeting has been really big for me
Speaker 1: before March and everything kind of happened. I haven't read
Speaker 1: a book since Magic Treehouse when I was a little kid,
Speaker 1: and you know, I started reading during UH when the
Speaker 1: pandemic and everything got shut down, And that's helped me
Speaker 1: a lot, no matter what it was, whether it was
Speaker 1: just reading for luxure or you know, for fun, or
Speaker 1: if it was reading to try to learn something. I
Speaker 1: think that's been beneficial and some different things, trying to
Speaker 1: become a little more you know, and tuling myself and
Speaker 1: spiritual and trying to just you know, think a little
Speaker 1: more about you know the world and other people and
Speaker 1: doing yoga and just cleflic as men were so used
Speaker 1: to just bottling everything up or a thought comes. Especially
Speaker 1: in this world, we're desensitized to everything. You know, we
Speaker 1: got constant from nation and constant news, and you know,
Speaker 1: you go on Twitter and you learn about this, and
Speaker 1: you just five seconds later you see something else, So
Speaker 1: you kind of become desensitized the stuff. So, you know,
Speaker 1: trying to stay off my phone and digest information more.
Speaker 1: And you know, when we get desensitized the stuff, I
Speaker 1: kind of it takes away our ability to you know,
Speaker 1: be empathetic about situations. So, you know, really trying to
Speaker 1: slow myself down and feel more. I guess it's probably
Speaker 1: the easiest way to put it into words. It's just
Speaker 1: feel more for yourself and for others. I really like
Speaker 1: that point about empathy and just how helpful that can be,
Speaker 1: whether it's with yourself or with other people. And something
Speaker 1: that you mentioned earlier was kind of this stigma around
Speaker 1: mental illness, and I think that that permeates throughout society
Speaker 1: as a whole. But you even mentioned as well, specifically
Speaker 1: with men, and maybe even more so within athletics or
Speaker 1: within professional athletics. I guess why, just personally, why do
Speaker 1: you think that is that there's such a stigma around
Speaker 1: this topic with men within athletics. I mean, it all starts, obviously.
Speaker 1: I think that's just that's the way I was, right.
Speaker 1: I mean not that I was my mental well being
Speaker 1: was neglected, but just you know, you know, my dad
Speaker 1: was looked Dad. I looked at my dad is you know,
Speaker 1: some big tough guy that you know, I've never seen
Speaker 1: him cry, and um, you know, handled everything I needed
Speaker 1: to be handled, and you know, to be able to
Speaker 1: see that. You know, I grew up wanting to be,
Speaker 1: you know, the person. I never wanted to put my
Speaker 1: problems on anybody or um, you know, something bad is
Speaker 1: going on or something's happening. I always want to be
Speaker 1: the person that's like, you know, I can I can
Speaker 1: take it, I can put it on my shoulders. And
Speaker 1: a lot of men grew up like that. A lot
Speaker 1: of people just grow up like that man or a woman.
Speaker 1: And I think it's just something that society's kind of created.
Speaker 1: But I do think it's something that we've kind of
Speaker 1: as a society. I've got better at talking about a
Speaker 1: little bit. Obviously we're doing it now, but I think
Speaker 1: it's improved over the years. The main thing that I
Speaker 1: think is acknowledging that there is stuff going on, because
Speaker 1: I've got so good at just handling stuff and internalizing things,
Speaker 1: or you know, I'll be all right kind of idea.
Speaker 1: You know, I've got so good at that that you don't.
Speaker 1: You forget to acknowledge when stuff is going on, and
Speaker 1: that can be a rabbit hole, and that could be
Speaker 1: can be bad because then it affects you in your
Speaker 1: daily life, whether it's just talking to you know, a
Speaker 1: significant other family member or a friend and you take
Speaker 1: it out on them without even noticing it. Why did
Speaker 1: you want to be a part of this series then
Speaker 1: and share your story with more people? Kind of going
Speaker 1: back on the pandemic and everything. I think it was
Speaker 1: a great time for everybody kind of work on getting
Speaker 1: better as a person. I think there's always stuff you
Speaker 1: can get better on, and you know, whether it's mentally, physically, spiritually,
Speaker 1: you know, anything that you want to get better. It
Speaker 1: was a good time to get better at it, and
Speaker 1: it's hard to get better at stuff when you're not
Speaker 1: in a good place mentally or when you're struggling with things,
Speaker 1: and the only way to kind of get better, to
Speaker 1: improve your your mental well being, or to get through
Speaker 1: a tough time, I really think is to not just
Speaker 1: get healthier physically. I think that helps, but to open
Speaker 1: up and talk to people. And whether you get a
Speaker 1: counselor you talk to a family member, however, you got
Speaker 1: to do everybody's different, you know, that's the first step
Speaker 1: is acknowledging it and then find it and find something
Speaker 1: to talk to to get better so that you can't
Speaker 1: improve all the things you want to improve it. You know,
Speaker 1: I just wanted to kind of be that. I want
Speaker 1: to be one of people where it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: he's deal with mych oldest shoes, he's in the NFL,
Speaker 1: he's done thinks. I want to build me on the
Speaker 1: forefront of that, just like I know some of other
Speaker 1: people that are talking to want to be on because
Speaker 1: it's important to show kids younger than us, or show
Speaker 1: people that are you know, our age or older, that know,
Speaker 1: no matter how big and bad you think you are,
Speaker 1: or no matter what you do for a living, that
Speaker 1: you know you can deal with mental health. In an
Speaker 1: earlier segment of this series, we talked to Jalen Holmes
Speaker 1: and he mentioned that if he helps just one person
Speaker 1: with sharing his story, that he finds that to be
Speaker 1: worth it. You know, So if there's if there's one
Speaker 1: thing that even one person could take out of your
Speaker 1: story and listening to this interview, what would you hope
Speaker 1: that to be. Jane was one of my good friends,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, I've talked to him about a
Speaker 1: lot of this stuff and he's he's I think he's
Speaker 1: exactly right. Like, if I could help one person or
Speaker 1: you know, help one person get through a really tough
Speaker 1: time that they might not think they're going to get through,
Speaker 1: and this is definitely worth it. If there's any if
Speaker 1: there's any advice I could I could give, And it's
Speaker 1: it's hard for me to give it sometimes because I'm
Speaker 1: not that good at, you know, listening to my own advice.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm not great at opening up and talking
Speaker 1: to people yet or you know, going and finding help.
Speaker 1: But um, you know, I just I just want everybody
Speaker 1: that hears this or that's listening to know that it's
Speaker 1: okay to struggle with things, no matter how big or
Speaker 1: small you think they are, and you know to to
Speaker 1: never give up and to attack that problem and you know,
Speaker 1: find help if they needed. And um, you know, talking
Speaker 1: to talk. I think I really believe that, you know,
Speaker 1: whether it's writing something down or just talking finding someone
Speaker 1: to talk to, it can be the you know, the
Speaker 1: change that that someone needs. I just want to extend
Speaker 1: a huge thank you to Tyler, not only for sharing
Speaker 1: more about a great organization like No Resolve, but for
Speaker 1: also being willing to delve into his personal experiences around
Speaker 1: anxiety and how that has impacted him. Thanks again for
Speaker 1: tuning in, and we invite you to keep an eye
Speaker 1: on all of Vikings digital platforms for upcoming features and
Speaker 1: are getting open series is the mbavab