The Players Tribune<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019d always joke with him about how he\u2019s \u2018Rondale Green, my third and oldest kid.\u2019 And looking back, that\u2019s probably one of those jokes where it\u2019s funny because it\u2019s based in a feeling that\u2019s true,\u201d Green explained. \u201cMan, I swear\u2026.. sometimes he really did feel like my son. I hope he knew I really did love him that way. And I guess I just wanted to share a few thoughts with y\u2019all,\u00a0now that he\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Green was so close with Moore that he said he was one of the first people he told about his plan to retire. He said he and Moore kept in touch during the following season, Moore\u2019s third with Arizona. They also stayed close when Rondale Moore got injured and was forced to miss the entire next season.<\/p>\n
And then Moore hurt himself again, in his first preseason game, on his first play back, while returning a punt. Same injury. And things changed. Green said Moore \u201cwent to a lower, darker place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, Moore had opportunities to coach and was still planning a comeback when A.J. Green got the call that he had passed.<\/p>\n
A.J. Green says real change has to start at the top of the NFL<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I\u2019m just a former player. I\u2019m no expert,\u201d Green wrote. \u201cBut to me, there\u2019s a lot that could still be improved in the NFL, as far as how the league is helping its players with their mental health. And one way I would start is by making it mandatory, if you have a major injury, that you see an independent mental health counselor as part of your rehab. And by also making it mandatory, if you have a second major injury, that you see an independent mental health counselor for an extended period of time, even after your rehab. And the reason I say this \u2014 it\u2019s because I\u2019m not an expert. You know what I\u2019m saying? <\/p>\n
\u201cLike, Rondale, he had a support system. He wasn\u2019t alone. He had friends who loved him, family who loved him. But those relationships can be complicated. And while those people can give you love and support \u2026 what they can\u2019t give you is professional help, and what they can\u2019t do is equip you with tools so that, if you ever do have a mental health crisis, or even just a really bad day, you know how to handle it. And you don\u2019t go and do something you can never undo.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my opinion, if Rondale\u2019d had those tools, he might still be alive today. And I want to make sure we\u2019re never saying that again about a young NFL player.\u201d<\/p>\n
A.J. Green echoed a lot of what Breiden Fehoko said<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the rules \u2026 all the initiatives \u2026 all the public statements about awareness \u2026 none of that means anything if the people who are making the football decisions, in private, are viewing mental health issues how I feel like a lot of times they still get viewed: as a red flag,\u201d he continued. \u201cThat\u2019s the truth. No one in any front office will ever say it out loud. No scout is ever gonna put it in a scouting report. But that\u2019s how it\u2019s viewed in this league by a lot of people.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd as long as that\u2019s the case? Stories like Rondale\u2019s will probably keep happening.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Image, Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images composite Retired NFL wide receiver A.J. Green has joined a growing chorus…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":666101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[197619,7140,210,517,1232,260985,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-666100","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-aj-green","9":"tag-arizona-cardinals","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-rondale-moore","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116254118510774425","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"AJ-Green-Rondale-Moore-Arizona-Cardinals\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AJ-Green-Rondale-Moore-Arizona-Cardinals.jpg\")
Getty Image, Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images composite<\/p>\n