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After Years Out of the NFL, Charles Haley Now Accepting and Battling Bipolar Tendencies

Jan 4, 2010, 6:30 PM UTC

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If you’ve ever had a chance to read Jeff Pearlman’s book about the Dallas Cowboys’ 1990s dynasty teams, Boys Will Be Boys, you know that Charles Haley cut a bizarre and deranged figure in the locker room, engaging in near psychotic and sexually charged behavior with teammates.â†µâ†µFor years, the pass rusher who owns the most Super Bowl rings as a player with five has dealt with the effects of bipolar disorder through medication and therapy. But it wasn’t something he even acknowledged until his playing days were long over, as a revealing profile that ran yesterday in the Dallas Morning News indicates. â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥Karen [Haley] says Charles sometimes would refuse to go to team functions and social settings. On the other extreme, she says, he was a shopaholic, in particular reveling in buying nice things for his mother, Virginia, and Harley Davidsons for himself. â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥During the 1990 season, Karen went to a library and copied literature about manic depression. â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥“I just suspected,” she says. Charles says he “dismissed it.” â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥Not until seven or eight years ago was Charles formally diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Karen accompanied him to that therapy session. He said little on the ride home. â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥“He was still processing, but I could tell, he was ready,” she says. “He was willing to accept it.”â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µ â†µâ†µWhile the opportunity for his induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (he’s a semifinalist for the fifth time this year) is what spurred this update into his life, Haley repeats to the writer that his personal transformation has nothing to do with building a better image for the selection committee. While his off-the-field medical issues are rare in that they’re not the result of football injuries, the culture of the league is certainly not one that would lead a player like Haley to psychological help so long as his manic energy can be channeled on the field. Many would argue it’s not the place of the team to push its players toward therapy, but it’s difficult to divorce a player’s need for it from the effect it would have on the number of risks he might take on the field. Which could just as easily become a medical issue the team is responsible for. â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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