Ravens TE Hayden Hurst Brings Student-Athletes To Ravens Game

A group of teenagers in matching white shirts had the experience of a lifetime Sunday watching the Baltimore Ravens play the Cincinnati Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium.

"It brings you joy to see everyone's happiness and how much love they have for the home team," Isaiah Addison said.

Dawn White reports:

Addison and Hazel Amodia, both high school seniors, could feel the crowd's excitement and the nervous energy of fans singing together, but for them and the rest of the 20 student-athletes proudly wearing Hayden Hurst Family Foundation shirts, it was much more than just a game.

"I always just watched it on TV, but being at the game live, the energy, you can feel it," Amodia said.

Addison, a football player at St. Francis Academy, and Amodia, a volleyball player at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, are familiar with the stress that comes with the pressure to perform. It was Hayden Hurst's own struggles with mental health that led him to establish his foundation.

BTST Services is partnering with the foundation to provide therapy and psychiatric rehabilitation to 20 local student-athletes.

"We'll teach them about the different coping skills for different anxieties, stress, depression, stuff like that, and then they'll take those same skills back to their teammates," BTST CEO Chris Simon said.

Amodia and Addison said they're looking forward to the help

"I think it'll help a lot to be able to express how I'm feeling, to get to meet new and different people, and also to hear and connect with others on problems I might be having and can't answer," Addison said.

Amodia said she knows the stress and pressure of being a student-athlete all too well.

"We don't really talk about our own mental health with other people even though they're in our team," Amodia said. "We think, 'Oh, maybe they don't care as much about our mental health, and oh, let's just put it to the side and just play the game.'"

Addison is a football player at St. Francis Academy and looks up to Hurst.

"It impacted me a lot because of the stereotype of athletes being strong, and they don't really worry about their feelings," Addison said. "It was different to hear him [Hayden] say, 'Oh, your feelings and your mental health are very important.'"

He got to meet his role model when Hurst spoke at his school.

Cathy Hurst is vice president of her son's foundation, which recently raised $45,000 at a fundraiser at the Grill at Harryman House.

"Mental health is just so not focused on, and that's why Hayden wanted to have this foundation," she said.

She saw her son battle depression and anxiety when he played minor league baseball and wants to help young people experiencing the same emotions.

"We wanted the people in Baltimore to realize that he was here, and he wanted to give back to the community because there's too many young people who are suffering," Cathy Hurst said. "Just to have an escape and a way to deal with situations, that's what Hayden wanted to do for the community and these student-athletes."

The mission to help student-athletes and the community will continue to grow.

"It helps us deal with stressful situations during games and before or during games, and it helps us just deal with our presence of mind," Amodia said. "Sometimes your head just isn't in the game, and you need an outlet to let it all out and talk to people."

It's an outlet for young people in the Baltimore community whose journey and connection with their own mental health is just beginning.