During his intro presser at Packers training camp, quarterback Aaron Rodgers defended Simone Biles for making her mental health a priority.
Much has been said this week after United States gymnast Simone Biles withdrew herself from the team final at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. Biles, citing her mental health, made the difficult decision to step down from her role. She’s without question one of the best in the sport, maybe the best ever.
While countless folks have come out to support her, others have tried throwing her under the bus. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers made it more than clear he’s in Biles’ corner, saying athletes should feel more open to discuss their internal battles.
Aaron Rodgers came out in full support of USA gymnast Simone Biles
Rodgers of course isn’t the only star athlete to show Biles love. As much as she wanted to help the U.S. win gold – they ended up taking silver – Biles knew that she had to make her mental health a priority. Imagine if she would have forced herself to compete knowing something was off?
“We also have to focus on ourselves, because at the end of the day we’re human too,” Biles said in Tokyo. “So, we have to protect our mind and our body, rather than just go out there and do what the world wants us to do.”
With her amazing acrobatics, there’s a good chance she very well could have ended up seriously injuring herself. That would have made things a million times worse for everyone involved.
Moving forward, Biles will work on getting herself back to 100 percent both mentally and physically before she competes. Until then, she’ll know that fellow athletes like Rodgers will fully support the decisions she ends up making.