In 2011, Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall was dealt a life-changing diagnosis: Borderline Personality Disorder, a serious mental illness.
He spent three months in an outpatient program at Boston’s McLean Hospital, receiving treatment for the condition that left his moods unstable, his behavior unpredictable and his relationships constantly on edge.
The 6-foot-4-inch, 230-pound five-time Pro Bowler—The Beast, as he’s known throughout the league—seemed to take the diagnosis in stride. His personal life, including skirmishes with his wife, Michi, and his professional career were marred by BPD, and his time at McLean allowed him to begin the process to treat and ultimately deal with its manifestations. His experience led him to found his namesake nonprofit to raise awareness for mental illness.
“(Marshall) was looking around the room at group therapy sessions and seeing doctors, lawyers, teachers and clinicians all in this room with him. He thought, ‘Wow, this is really something that affects everybody,’” says Brandon Marshall Foundation CEO Louie Correa. “That’s when he had the epiphany that he really wanted to speak out about mental health and about mental illness awareness—because no one was really talking about it.”
The foundation launched informally in 2011 as a joint effort between Marshall and his wife, Michi Nogami-Marshall. Nogami-Marshall had been a participant for the past few years in NAMIWalks, an annual 5K walk dedicated to promoting mental health, and wanted to grow her role with a more ambitious fundraising goal.
“She’d raised a couple bucks the previous year, had an OK turnout, but she really wanted to have a bigger presence there,” Correa says. In just under three weeks, Correa and Nogami-Marshall rallied the troops and raised $5,200 for NAMI Cook County North Suburban (NAMI-CCNS). The foundation matched the donations to give to NAMI Greater Chicago.
The partnership with local NAMI affiliates, offices of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is new for the Brandon Marshall Foundation, but, Correa says, important. “There are all kinds of great organizations out there, like NAMI, that are helping members of our community suffering from mental illness,” he says. “What we decided early on was that we weren’t going to provide direct services. We were going to use the celebrity platform to shine a light on some of the services already out there.”
In May, the Brandon Marshall Foundation reunited with NAMI-CCNS to co-host the “Supporting Mental Health is a Team Effort” gala. The National Alliance on Mental Illness has hundreds of local affiliates across the country that work to raise awareness and provide essential advocacy and support. The nonprofits are natural complements; NAMI strives to improve the lives of individuals with mental illness and their loved ones through education classes, support groups and advocacy.
“Our mission,” Correa says, “is to end the stigma attached to mental illness, advocate for unprecedented awareness, connect those suffering to resources and paint the world lime green.” The foundation has adopted lime green—the color of mental illness awareness—as its team color; in October, the foundation worked with buildings downtown to light lime green for Mental Health Awareness Week. Marshall too donned a pair of lime green Nike cleats on the field in solidarity.
Marshall, who signed a three-year, $30 million extension with the Bears on May 19 on television’s “The View,” remains active with the organization. “He’s said plenty of times that he gets more stimulation from coming into this office than going in Halas Hall,” Correa says. “That’s not a knock on his work with the Bears. This is just something new and exciting for him.”
Marshall is so dedicated that he his professional choices are now dictated, in part, by his philanthropic purpose. “He won’t do an endorsement deal unless there’s some sort of charitable component with the foundation,” Correa says.
In addition, when Marshall celebrated his new contract with the ladies of “The View,” he pledged $1 million to the mental health community. That donation, Correa says, will cover the foundation’s operating costs for the foreseeable future, allowing every dollar donated to go back out as grants to the service providers the Brandon Marshall Foundation supports. “One hundred percent of the money donated to the Brandon Marshall Foundation goes back to the community that they live in,” Correa says. “Donations aren’t going to be coming in to cover our overhead. Brandon and Michi have already covered that.”
For more information or to find your local NAMIWalks, visit namiwalks.org. Chicago’s 9th Annual NAMIWalk will take place Saturday, Sept. 27 along the lakefront in Grant Park. Register as part of a team or as an individual here. NAMI Cook County North Suburban will hold its annual NAMIWalk on Saturday, Oct. 18, at Blue Star Memorial Woods in Glenview. Register as a participant or sponsor here.
