Lions running back David Montgomery has revealed how he overcame his dark thoughts.

Montgomery said he was overwhelmed with stress and had suicidal thoughts when he was a rookie on the Bears in 2019, with fantasy football managers contributing to the situation.

“When I was a rookie, I had a real, real stressful time in the league,” Montgomery said on Sports Illustrated’s “Fantasy Dirt” podcast with Michael Fabiano and Lindsay Rhodes. 

“I was at a point where I would have this suicidal thought and it just a depressing and a scary year for me. And unfortunately, fantasy, the people in fantasy were kind of helping — they were helping me kind of be aided to feeling that way. I was at a point where I was scared to live.”

Montgomery said he snapped out of the feelings amid a phone call with his nephew.

“I went through all of that stuff and one person who saved my life was my nephew. I was in a situation to where I was this close to doing something that I knew I shouldn’t have done, that would have changed the trajectory of my life or changed the trajectory of everybody else around me in my life,” Montgomery said. “And my nephew called me, right when I was in the midst of doing so. And he didn’t say anything about football. He didn’t say anything about how fast I was. He just said, ‘Uncle Dave, I miss you. How are you doing?’ And my nephew, and it meant so much to me, because my nephew, he has leukemia.

“And I was in a very dark place, very very dark place. And from that point on, hearing my nephew’s voice, I made a vow to myself and a promise to myself that I would never, ever allow anybody else to have that much control over my mind, my body to make me feel like I wasn’t worth anything or valued in a light to where I had a purpose on this Earth.”

Montgomery played for the Bears from 2019-22 before heading to the NFC North rival Lions. He rushed for 889 yards and six touchdowns in his rookie campaign.

The 27-year-old rushed for 1,015 yards and 13 touchdowns last season while helping Detroit to the NFC Championship game, and has hit pay dirt in each of the Lions’ four games so far this year.

He discussed on the podcast how therapy has helped him work through his emotions.

“Yeah, it was scary, but I got a really good therapist,” Montgomery said of battling the suicidal thoughts. “I’ve been working with a therapist for five years now, and being able to regulate and express my emotions and being able to allow myself to know that I am enough, you know, and I’ve been through a lot of things. I’ve been through a lot of places where people don’t even know who I am. But I get to create that perception for myself, to how I view myself and how my son views me. And, you know, I’m having the best time of my life. And I’m enjoying life for exactly what it is.”

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis, you can call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org for free and confidential crisis counseling.