When Jeff Hostetler was a quarterback for four different NFL franchises from 1985 to 1997, mental health was never prioritized among players in the league, nor was it ever brought to the forefront.
In his work as a member of QB United, he is hoping to change that. QB United's website describes the organization as "a collective of current and former NFL Quarterbacks banding together to maximize charitable impact and save lives."
On Friday, Hostetler was in Salt Lake for an event held at Moanalua High School to promote Children's Mental Health Awareness Month.
The Hawai‘i Department of Education, QB United and the Cook Center for Human Connection collaborated for "Huddle Up for Youth Mental Health," an event aimed at spreading positivity and support for children.
"We just wanted to attack some of the more prevalent issues that our kids are facing, and mental health is a huge issue," Hostetler told Aloha State Daily following the event. "We wanted to go ahead and start making a difference in the different states and things like that. And we got hooked up with the Department of Education here and we just started working on that. We just feel like this is something that is a win-win for everybody, that we can arm our kids, arm our teachers and parents with the knowledge needed."
Hostetler has also appeared at events in West Virginia to promote QB United's mental health initiative and estimates he's in talks with "four or five" other states.
On O‘ahu for the first time since getting selected to the 1995 Pro Bowl, Hostetler spoke to both Moanalua football teams about prioritizing mental health. He mentioned that around the world, a person dies by suicide every 40 seconds.
Among the initiatives emphasized at the event was the Hawai‘i DOE's Here to Help mental health resources, as well as QB United's Stay Here campaign.
Hawai‘i DOE superintendent Keith Hayashi also spoke at the event, emphasizing to the crowd that the mental well-being of students should be as much of a priority as any other facet of one's education.
"Our goal is to get in 50 states, but it's providing a resource that's available and free to parents, to the kids, to the teachers and all that," Hostetler said. "If we can prevent one suicide, if we can prevent one kid from having to go through a really, really difficult time, or parents going through difficult times, and we can recognize something and stop that, we've been successful.
"More people are talking about it and that's what has to happen. That's the goal, is get people to talk about it. And if we can talk about it, and we can be upfront and aware, we can make a difference, and so that's the goal."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.