SUMTER, S.C. — Sumter resident Dexter Davis is starting a conversation with local military members and football players to unite the two communities over shared experiences.
"It hits right at home because we’re all struggling," Davis said. "We’re struggling with our relationships, we’re struggling with the person in the mirror, we’re struggling with our spouses, our children…we’re just trying to figure out how do we assemble effectively into this next chapter?"
Davis tells me football changed his life. He spent years playing in the National Football League before getting injured. Now, he’s using his experience to help others.
After recognizing the similar experiences shared by professional football players and military members, he’s working to unite the two.
Lefford Fate with the city of Sumter thinks forming this bond is important. He spent 31 years in the military, and saw the mental health issues that can develop.
"I’ve been all over the world and when I came to Shaw Air Force Base in 2008, I truly felt loved and appreciated not for what I can give, but for who I was as a military member," Fate said. "We all realize there is an issue with transitioning from the military."
A transition that can be made easier with community bonding. Cleveland Pinkney, who played for multiple NFL teams before retiring, explains this feeling is something he recognized in his father, a former military member.
"We hold these conversations. I understand his pain, 'cuz I go through the same thing you know?" Pinkney explained. "I suffer through the same thing."
He explained the trauma that can come from playing everyday.
"It take a certain mindset to play that position and play that game. It’s basically a switch. I call it my Incredible Hulk switch. The game comes on, you cut that switch on. You’re the incredible hulk. You’ve got to be this enraged person," Pinkney shared. "Well, the struggle when you retire and you come back trying to be a normal person, well the switch is still there. It’s broken and you can’t cut it on because you’re no longer that person."
That struggle is common for many retired players, Pinkney said.
"What happens to that guy that you’ve built, that you’ve created?" he questioned. "He’s still there. And that’s where we have the mental illness side of, you know, the CTE and different things where it’s like things just become so confusing a lot of times. And being around people of your peers and y'all can kind of share these stories, kinda helps you tame that person."
That search for identity is resonating for football players and military members alike. Now Davis will focus on starting that conversation through scheduled events for the two groups into the future.
"We’re looking at rolling those [similarities] out, unpacking them and helping ourselves reassemble into our communities," Davis said. "We’ve got families that are struggling, children that their fathers and trying to reinvent themselves, Alzheimer's, dementia, all those things are rampant in our business. And so I’m here to help give awareness to that and at the same time bridge the gap between the military men and our players."