Wellness, like football, is a team effort. That’s why we strive to provide wellness resources not only to players and former players but also to the people who support them, including family members, coaches, medical staff members, clinicians, directors of player engagement and team chaplains. We sustain this ecosystem by implementing a four-part model.
The NFL Total Wellness model comprises four primary approaches.
Create, expand and deliver resources to all members of the NFL family to foster well-being.
Reinforce, collaborate with, and align the various player support systems and networks.
Integrate wellness perspectives into the development and implementation of league policies.
NFL Total Wellness helps deliver resources through the services under its purview — NFL Life Line, Cigna work/life resources and team clinicians — and supports wellness-related resources provided by partners such as NFL Player Engagement, the NFL Player Care Foundation, the NFL Players Association and The Trust.
The 24/7 independently operated crisis line provides confidential and anonymous support for players, Legends, coaches, staff members, and immediate family members and has been part of the Total Wellness platform since they both launched in 2012. Total Wellness works with NFL Life Line operator Vibrant Emotional Health to review and enhance the service’s performance and align it with other mental health resources.
The resources for players, coaches, officials, and members of their households include free mental health counseling and guidance in a range of other areas, such as elder care, legal issues and adoption support. Total Wellness works with Cigna to ensure collaboration with other wellness resource providers — for example, by connecting NFL Life Line callers directly with Cigna resources for additional support when needed.
Every club must employ a licensed behavioral health clinician on-site to provide clinical support, mental health education, outreach and resources to players, coaches, staff, and their immediate families. NFL Total Wellness is the primary provider of resources and information for clinician support, including policy updates, additional training, continuing education, and guidance on effective integration within their club’s overall support system.
Programs provided by our partners enhance wellness for members of the NFL family through resources such as rookie education and onboarding, financial management and career development workshops, transition coaching, and social events. Total Wellness provides assistance to these partners in many ways. For example, we develop the framework for wellness-focused rookie educational sessions. We facilitate workshops about the emotional or social aspects of wellness and their impact on finances and careers. We also help make their resources easier to access.
The NFL-NFLPA behavioral health agreement in 2019 mandated what Total Wellness already had been pursuing as a best practice: a licensed behavioral health clinician on-site for every club. In addition to being responsible for mental health education and outreach, these clinicians lead a mental health and wellness team that includes the club’s lead physician, athletic trainer, strength and conditioning coach, director of player engagement and team chaplain. The impact on wellness is evident.
NFL Total Wellness strives to make sure every NFL player and Legend has access to qualified mental health support from highly trained providers, whether from Total Wellness or our partners. These include:
Players have access to many support personnel, including team clinicians, transition coaches, heads of player engagement, medical staff members and coaches. Total Wellness works to make sure these support systems are aligned instead of operating in silos so they can better complement each other. Specifically, Total Wellness:
Total Wellness’ involvement in governance consists of several primary roles:
