Dayne Shor on mental health, enters transfer portal
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Editor’s note: This story explores suicide. If you are at risk, please stop here and contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for support at 1-800-273-8255.
Alabama football 2022 signee Dayne Shor entered the transfer portal Thursday and later on social media addressed bouts of depression and anxiety when explaining his decision.
Shor, an offensive lineman from Alpharetta, Georgia, was an early enrollee with the Crimson Tide. He posted a note on Twitter, wanting to explain what he has been doing. Shor said he wanted to answer the question, “Where has Dayne Shor been?”
“My name is Dayne Allan Shor and I am dealing with the struggle of mental health,” Shor wrote. “I have dealt with the pain of depression and anxiety for what seems to be a long time now. Two years ago, I was fighting for my life against mental illness. It is safe to say that every day I was suffering with living in darkness, with pain and with sadness. The feeling of wanting to take your own life is a feeling like no other, and a feeling that I would wish no one else to have to ever feel.
“The voices in my head would often take control of my life. There are wounds that will never show on my body, but that are deeper and more painful than any physical wound that bleeds. The pain and struggle with mental health is horrendous.”
Shor said that during the peak of his struggles, he was getting heavily recruited but no one knew what he was feeling.
“People that struggle with mental pain find ways to hide in plain sight,” Shore wrote. “A lot of people would say I have the ‘perfect life’ or that ‘I have everything going for me.’ Please do not get me wrong … the experience of being recruited was incredible and one that I thank God every day for. But that feeling was, unfortunately, not long term.
“Outside of football, I was struggling immensely. I have been told that I am lucky to still be alive. In my heart, I know that football has ultimately saved my life as it gave me the motivation, determination and power to keep going.”
Shor said that football was the only outlet for him to feel free and be at peace in his mind and soul.
“The amount of adversity I have faced over the past four years is surreal,” Shor wrote.
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Shor took time to thank Herren Wellness, a health and wellness organization in Massachusetts, as well as its founder, Chris Herren, for taking Shor in at their facility.
“Their mental health awareness program has provided me with tools and coping skills that I will carry and continue to build upon for the rest of my life,” Shor wrote.
Shor decided he wants a fresh start.
“From this day on, a new Dayne Shor is born,” he wrote, “and I will finish what I started 13 years ago when I first stepped onto the football field. Everyone will be seeing a new me and I will make an impact wherever I go. Now … LETS GET TO WORK!!!”
Nick Kelly covers Alabama football and men’s basketball for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter: @_NickKelly
