As Alexander Mattison brought home All-Mountain West First Team honors and rushing yard titles at Boise State, he had a different battle in his mind.
“I just knew I was going through a rough time, and I was doing everything that I could to fix it, but nothing was working,” Mattison said.
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Mattison’s journey with mental health led him to start his youth camp in partnership with The Athletes for Life Foundation and the IAM Gifted Foundation. After stops at Boise and Minnesota, Mattison, who excelled in football and the classroom at San Bernardino High School, brings his camp to his home area of Southern California.
The camp, which takes place from Friday to Sunday at the UC Riverside campus, will teach attendees football skills while also informing them about financial literacy, NCAA rules and regulations and mental health awareness.
“Growing up, I was one of those kids who couldn’t afford to go to some of these big time camps,” Mattison said. “I wanted to use my platform because I’m in a position where I’m blessed to be able to do something like that and give back.”
In the spring and summer leading into the fall of his sophomore year of college, Mattison heavily contemplated whether he wanted to continue playing football. However, he continued to push through and opted to play in the 2017 season.
On Sept. 9, 2017, Boise State played a triple-overtime game against Washington State. Mattison finished the game with 14 attempts for 66 yards and a touchdown.
On the other sideline, Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski completed 25 of his 33 pass attempts for 240 yards and three touchdowns. Little did Mattison know Hilinski was going through battles similar to his own.
Hillinski played at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks before transferring to Upland High School. In 2015, he enrolled at Washington State to play football. On Jan. 16, 2018, four months after the triple overtime game between Boise State and Washington State, Hilinski took his own life.
“I was in the position where I was thinking, ‘Do I want to play football anymore?’” Mattison said. “He was in the position where he was thinking, ‘Do I really want to live anymore?’ It was one of those things where some people are either going through the same, worse or it doesn’t matter. They’re going through something, and they don’t know how to deal with it.”
Mattison’s spotlight grew when he went from Boise State to being drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in 2019. He realized there were people out there who “don’t have the resources or don’t know much about mental health.”
Last year, Mattison at age 26 had a career-high of 13 starts for the Vikings along with a career-best rushing total of 700 yards. Still, he was released by the Vikings in March after five seasons and then signed by the Las Vegas Raiders on a one-year, $2 million contract.
In his camp, he’ll share that became passionate about mental health because he understood how it felt to go into a “dark place and come out on the other side.”
Mattison cited the importance of mental health awareness for children moving into adulthood.
“Research has shown that between the ages of 18 and 25 is the most stressful part of a human being’s life,” Mattison said. “Being able to provide these kids with those resources is huge because we don’t want to see them fall into any type of addiction. The key thing we want them to take away is if you’re feeling alone, if you’re feeling down, you have us to lean on.”In football, Mattison says there can be an expectation for players to be “untouchable, unstoppable, unbreakable,” which can make it uncomfortable for some in that position to reach out for help.
“I can’t be one of those people that doesn’t speak up about this and have gone through something and not share ways that have helped me overcome my adversity and my battle with dark times,” Mattison said.
