Football isn’t everything. Sure, we put it on a pedestal and make it seem like everything in America, but it’s just a game where dudes run around in tights pummeling each other for entertainment. The only thing that makes it different from the WWE is that it takes place in stadiums without a predetermined outcome.
Penn State kicker Joey Julius has captivated college football for the last three years, largely due to his unconventional size compared to other football players. He lays out kick returners with huge hits, time and time again. Off the field, he’s struggled with binge eating disorder and depression, last year opening up with an emotionally-raw Facebook post about receiving treatment for a binge-eating disorder. Last year, he sat down with Good Morning America to talk about it:
“My team physicians started to notice not only a change in my overall happiness but also my performance as a normal human being,” Julius wrote.
Julius said his binge eating would involve eating a salad in front of his teammates but then hiding food in his backpack to take to his room to eat alone. He said he would order cheesesteak, French fries and Chinese food and binge eat until he was sick.
“I would have to lay down to the point where I was so sick I couldn’t move and [I would] just, you know, lay there,” he said. “And there were sometimes I would cry.”
WATCH: @joey_julius, @PennStateFball kicker and viral sensation opens up about his struggle with an eating disorder: https://t.co/tNSr1Axhdl pic.twitter.com/ldcgUNV0nT
— Good Morning America (@GMA) October 14, 2016
Yesterday PennLive reported that Julius has left the program prior to entering his senior season.
Joey Julius is no longer with the Penn State football team. Julius, a Lower Dauphin grad, was the Lions' 2016 kickoff specialist.
— Bob Flounders (@BobbyFlo7) July 24, 2017
Back in May, Julius wrote a heart-felt post on Facebook about him leaving school and entering a treatment facility to further deal with his battle with eating disorder.
https://twitter.com/joey_julius/status/888242992221487104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbssports.com%2Fcollege-football%2Fnews%2Fpenn-state-kicker-joey-julius-no-longer-with-the-program%2F
https://twitter.com/joey_julius/status/889709462361178112
There’s more to life than football. Glad to see Joey take the steps he needs to get better. Get well soon, Joey.