Tony Dorsett says he deals with depression, suicidal thoughts

Hall of Fame running back Tony Dorsett says that his quality of life is deteriorating along with his memory. The former Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos great told Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton on WFAN in New York that he deals with suicidal thoughts and depression.

Dorsett played in the NFL from 1977-88.

“Well, you know, I’ve been diagnosed with all that,” Dorsett said. “That’s private stuff and I don’t want to get into all that stuff, but I’ve been diagnosed. I’m just telling you, I’ve been diagnosed with that, yes.”

Dorsett was part of the class action lawsuit against the NFL that ended in a $765 million dollar settlement. For Dorsett that isn't enough. He believes the league should be paying for NFL retirees health insurance.

“I’m one of those guys,” he told Boomer and Carton. “My quality of life is deteriorating every day.”

“All I want to do is have health insurance for the rest of my life,” Dorsett said. “I signed up for this, obviously. My family is worried about me. I’m worried about me in some respects.”

Dorsett recently found out that he was graded a three out of four on the memory loss scale.

“My memory is really, really, really getting bad, and it’s going down,” Dorsett said. “I take my daughters to school, I take my daughters to practices, and all of a sudden the one day comes up and I’m saying ‘Well, how do I get there?’”

Dorsett isn't blaming anyone for playing the game and he knows he signed up for it. All he's asking for is the league to take care of it's own. He's a proud man who refuses to let his current condition keep him down.

I know the players make enough money to last a lifetime but the league should set something up for retired players who eventually suffer from memory loss and conditions of that nature.