‹ Back

By Dan Comiskey - 2x Grey Cup Champion

 

I get paid to talk for a living. I tell stories. That’s a luxury I’ve earned, in part, because I spent over a decade as a professional football player. But let me be clear — I didn’t start out like this. In fact, when I first joined the CFL in my mid-20s, I wasn’t comfortable speaking in front of crowds. That changed when I was asked to speak to kids as part of an anti-bullying campaign. I discovered that my story had the power to make an impact. From there, something grew — not just a skill, but a calling.

 

Back then, life felt easy. My world revolved around training, game plans, and performance. But 13 years later, as my football career came to an end, I saw life very differently. I saw teammates who once stood tall, struggle in silence as they transitioned to life after football. I saw myself go through a divorce and personal hardship. I won't unpack here, but I can tell you this: I was carrying a heavy burden with no tools and no playbook to guide me.

 

And I’m not alone.

 

A National Crisis in the Shadows

 

Over the past decade, men’s mental health in Canada has been in a free fall. Depression among men has quietly but steadily increased. Today, one in eight men will experience major depression at some point in their lives. More alarmingly, 75% of suicide victims in Canada are male, and on average, more than 10 men die by suicide every day in this country.

 

That’s not just a number. That’s a teammate, a father, a son, a coworker — a man who believed that admitting pain was weakness. A man who feared that if he spoke up, his family, his crew on the construction site, or his colleagues in the boardroom would no longer be able to count on him.

 

That fear — that silence — is killing us.

 

The Power of Conversation

 

Over the past year, I’ve been having real conversations with men on my podcast. Time and again, mental health comes up. Whether it’s about the pressure to be stoic, the quiet weight of financial stress, or the post-career void, the common thread is isolation. We’re not talking enough. Or when we do talk, we don’t go deep enough.

 

One of the stories that stuck with me was from David Hermanson, who was rocked by a simple but devastating stat: “How is it possible that we are losing one guy a day to suicide?” (in the construction industry).  That one question drove him to start a weekly support group on his construction site. There, men could talk — really talk — about addiction, alcoholism, depression, and the daily fight to keep going.

We need more Davids. More spaces where men can show up as they are, no masks, no shame.

 

Building a New Playbook

 

That’s why I’m proud to be working with Ian France and the Breakfast With Champions initiative. Together, we’re not just raising awareness — we’re delivering resources, funding, and community to support men’s mental health across Canada. It’s time to rewrite the script. We need to normalize vulnerability. We need to equip men with the tools to heal, cope, and grow and we need to stop pretending that pain is something only to be dealt with behind closed doors.

 

Where Do We Go from Here?

 

We start by talking. Not once, but often. Not in passing, but with purpose.

 

We check in with our teammates, whether they wear cleats, steel-toe boots, or loafers. We model strength not through silence, but through honesty. And we invest — in programs, in people, and in ourselves — so that no man needs to feel like he's battling alone.

The decline in men’s mental health isn’t just a statistic. It’s a call to action. I’ve lived it. I’ve seen it and now, I’m doing something about it.

 

I hope you will too.

~ Dan Comiskey