ESPN released an emotional video late Wednesday night about former Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski.
The video featured his parents Mark and Kym one year after Tyler shocked the sports world by taking his own life.
His parents discuss the relationship they had with their son and everything that has happened since. You can watch the video below, but I’ll warn you that it is difficult at times to sit through.
It’s been one year since we lost @WSUCougFB QB Tyler Hilinski.
Forever to 3. pic.twitter.com/CKN85xn4hL
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) January 17, 2019
I can still remember waking up a year ago and finding out that Tyler Hilinski was dead. The young man had everything in front of him and ended up killing himself. The starting QB job at WSU was his to lock down, he was blossoming into a football star and it all took a tragic turn.
We might never fully understand why Hilinski killed himself, but we do know that it sent shockwaves through the sports world. (RELATED: College Quarterback Who Killed Himself Had CTE)
It was also just another example of a football player that struggled mightily with CTE.
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I love my job, but I hate covering stuff like this. It constantly makes you wonder what could have been done to save this young man’s life. Would one phone call have been enough to get him into counseling? We’ll never have any idea, and that’s the part that I’m sure tears at his parents every day.
Let’s all hope we get to a point where these stories don’t exist anymore. That’s a goal I think we can all strive for.