About the NFL Life Line
In 2012, the National Football League provided a grant to establish the NFL Life Line for members of the NFL family—current and former NFL players, coaches, team and league staff, and their family members who may be in crisis. The NFL Life Line is a free, confidential, and independently operated resource that connects callers with trained counselors who can help individuals work through any personal or emotional crisis. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Individuals can simply call (800) 506-0078 or chat online to be connected with a counselor. These caring professionals are trained to understand the specific issues that may arise during or after a professional career in football, as well as a variety of general problems that can affect anyone. No confidential information about individual calls or callers is shared with the NFL, teams, or any other organization. They’re there to listen and assist callers in finding solutions in challenging times, provide support for individuals who are calling out of concern for somebody else, and can connect callers with programs and resources offered by the NFL and other organizations. Federal evaluations of hotlines similar to this service have shown that they can effectively reduce emotional distress and suicidal thinking in callers.
The NFL Life Line is managed by a team of leading experts in crisis counseling and health communications: The Jed Foundation, and the Education Development Center. Other contributing collaborators are the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention.
Vibrant Emotional Health (formerly the Mental Health Association of New York City) is a leading not-for-profit organization that addresses mental health needs in New York City and across the nation. Vibrant operates an award-winning comprehensive NYC-area crisis contact center that incorporates state-of-the-art telephone, text and web-based technologies to reach and respond to diverse community needs. Vibrant answers calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline from New York City and runs a wide range of crisis hotlines, including 1-800-LIFENET (the city’s only accredited, multi-lingual, professionally-staffed hotline available 24/7/365), which has assisted over a million callers in need since it launched in 1996. Vibrant also operates the OASAS HOPEline for New York State residents with substance or gambling addictions and the anti-bullying BRAVEline serving 1.1 million public schoolchildren. Vibrant is also a nationally recognized leader in disaster mental health response as a result of its work serving people impacted by the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
Centerstone
Centerstone is the nation’s largest not-for-profit provider of community-based mental health and addiction services. For more than 55 years, Centerstone has provided a full range of services for children, adolescents, adults and seniors from all walks of life. Since 1992, Centerstone’s Crisis Services program has provided telephonic, electronic, web-based and face-to-face crisis intervention services, both locally and nationally, for an array of organizations and individuals in need, including answering calls for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the Nashville area. Centerstone’s Crisis Call Center provides 24/7 access to trained, master’s level and other licensed mental health clinicians for competent, compassionate and effective crisis intervention services. To ensure the efficacy of its practices, Centerstone’s Crisis Services works closely with Centerstone Research Institute (CRI) in implementing evidence-supported practice and cutting-edge health information technology.
National Football League (NFL)
The NFL is committed to ensuring the total health—physical, mental, and emotional—of current and former players and providing resources and programs to assist players in being successful on and off the field. The NFL is continuing this commitment to total player health through support for the NFL Life Line.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
SAMHSA provides federal leadership to reduce the impact of mental illness and substance abuse on America’s communities. SAMHSA’s efforts are focused on helping the Nation act on the knowledge that behavioral health is essential for health; prevention works; treatment is effective; and people recover from mental and substance use disorders. SAMHSA’s suicide prevention programs include the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, and more than one hundred Garrett Lee Smith State/Tribal and Campus Suicide Prevention grantees. For information on mental health and substance abuse—including where to access services see www.samhsa.gov.
National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (Action Alliance)
Established in 2010 by Secretaries Sebelius and Gates, the Action Alliance is the public-private partnership advancing the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention envisions a nation free from the tragic experience of suicide. The Action Alliance champions suicide prevention as a national priority and catalyzes efforts to implement high priority objectives of the suicide prevention strategy.