Steve Simmons Of The Toronto Sun Is Gutless For Calling Out Marc Savard

It’s 2018 and we are still having to remind people to take mental health serious. What a joke. When are people going to realize that mental health is not something to poke at? Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun is the latest POS to downplay the affects of mental health with his recent jab at former Bruins forward Marc Savard.

Simmons recently wrote “Marc Savard basically disappeared when his career ended in Boston,”Media called. Nobody answered. Now suddenly Savard is a media guy. My advice: If he calls, don’t answer” Now, I don’t want to sit here and speak for the entire hockey community, but hockey is better with Marc Savard involved and I, for one, couldn’t be happier to see Marc back involved in the game he loves so much.

Savard responded with:

“I’ve never been one to let negative media posts get to me but this one has hurt because for me this is extremely personal. After my concussions in 2011, I spent many years dealing with some serious mental health issues and post-concussion symptoms. I did not withdraw myself from hockey or the hockey world by choice. I was not in a good place! I needed those years to heal. Thankfully, I was able to make a full recovery with the support I received from my family, friends, advisors and medical professionals. Today I feel happy, healthy and very lucky! I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given lately to raise awareness for mental health issues and concussions as well to give back to the game I love, the great game of hockey. Marc Savard”

Some pretty powerful stuff here from Savy. A perfect response. Now, when Stevey boy isn’t getting made to look like a complete muppet by Phil Kessel, he probably should be reading up on Marc Savard’s concussion history. Or I don’t know, maybe read the lengthy piece Savard wrote for the Players Tribune titled “Hell and Back”

Here are some excerpts:

“The only only memory I have is of being taken off the ice on a stretcher, and then realizing that my kids were at home watching the game. So I put my hand up to let them know that dad was O.K.

I wasn’t O.K.

I had experienced three or four minor concussions before, but nothing like this.

That was the start of some really dark days. It’s a part of my life that I don’t really like revisiting too often, but I’m telling my story today for anyone who might be going through a similar kind of hell.”

 —-

“You know that feeling of getting on a really early flight, when you’re so tired and irritable, and you just keep thinking, “Alright, at least once I get on this plane, I’ll pass out, and then I’ll wake up and be myself again.”

(Hockey players on long road trips definitely know the feeling.)

Well, imagine waking up and still feeling completely exhausted. Imagine that feeling lingering for almost two months. No matter how much you rest, you never feel like yourself. There’s no relief. You’re just exhausted and pissed off and confused.

For two months, I was a zombie.

I had these terrible headaches, and any loud noise or bright light was … I mean, it’s almost indescribable. If you’ve never had a concussion, I don’t know if words can do the feeling justice. Every little noise is like nails on a chalkboard, and you feel this dread so deep down inside your body.

So I pretty much lived a reverse lifestyle. I was in bed all day with the blinds closed, in total darkness, in total silence. Then I would get up at 11 p.m. and watch TV on mute, with the brightness turned way down. If somebody called to check on me, I didn’t want to talk. I can’t really explain it, but everything seemed so….

What’s the word?

I guess the word is daunting. Just the thought of talking to a friend on the phone seemed like a huge mental and almost physical effort. I was so irritable because of my symptoms that it was hard to be around people — even the people I loved. All I wanted to do was rest. And that’s when it becomes a vicious cycle. Because when you can’t get out of bed and do the stuff that makes you happy, you get depressed. And then it’s like you get depressed that you’re depressed. It’s a suffocating feeling.

—– 

“I never actually had thoughts of taking my own life, but psychologists have a rating system that they use to track your mental state, and at one point, my symptoms were so serious that I was considered suicidal.

I don’t say that to be dramatic, or to make anyone feel sorry for me. It’s simply the truth. I was in a very dark place, and I think it’s a place that a lot of people struggling with postconcussion syndrome get to.”

—–

How can anyone read this stuff from Savard and not feel for the guy? You’ve got to be a real gutless piece of shit to not see the suffering that this poor guy went through and then have the balls to call him out for not being a media whore the few years after his career. But not Stevie. Stevie Simmons thinks Savy should answer his calls for interviews. Stevie thinks Savard should have been doing NHL tonight and radio shows left and right when doctors considered his condition to be so serious that they considered him suicidal.

Is there anyone worse than this guy? How did he still have a job? This guy’s favorite part of his day is watching the local hot dog stand outside of the Leafs practice rink to see if someone gets a post practice snack so he can write a 900-word hit piece on them. Talk about a being a fucking loser.

Fuck Steve Simmons.