GREEN BAY, Wis. – When four-time Grand Slam single’s champion and No. 2-ranked women’s tennis player Naomi Osaka dropped out of the French Open citing “social anxiety” and “long bouts of depression,” legendary Green Bay Packers safety LeRoy Butler offered to lend an ear.
“When I was talking to my wife, I said, ‘I know exactly how she’s feeling,’” Butler told Clark Judge of SI.com’s Talk of Fame Network.
“What she did makes her a real hero to me,” he added.
Butler, the only offensive or defensive player on the NFL’s all-1990s team to not be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has grappled with anxiety, as well.