A GoFundMe campaign has been launched for Darryl Talley after an article about the former Buffalo Bills star linebacker appeared in The Buffalo News Thursday where Talley admitted suffering from depression and contemplating suicide.
The 54-year-old Talley said that it would be "easy to call it a day." Talley reverses those thoughts by saying his parents didn't raise a coward and he wants to be around for his grandchildren.
Talley says he has memory loss and trouble sleeping, and that those along with depression and suicidal thoughts are what he considers to be side-effects from his hard-hitting playing days.
Talley spent 12 of his 14 NFL seasons in Buffalo, where was part of an attacking defense that helped the Bills win four consecutive AFC championships from 1991-94. Now he tells the newspaper he's broke.
After the article appeared, a GoFundMe campaign was started, and in a little more than a day has raised more than $44,000 for Talley. The campaign urges fans "to return the favor for our favorite son" who "circled the wagons for us" for 12 years.
Janine Talley took to Twitter Thursday to thank the The Buffalo News and the writer of the article, Tim Graham, as well as to thank those who have offered support after reading it.
She wrote, "Tears abound in our house this morning. Words can not express our gratitude to @ByTimGraham for writing such a painfully beautiful story."
"Our family would also like to thank each and every one of you for reading it and for showing such overwhelming support. We are humbled."
If you'd like to help "the man Bills' fans affectionately call, "Spider-Man" who "gave everything he had on every play and left it all on the field," click here to learn more.
