The 2025 MLB season is in full swing, creating the perfect opportunity to highlight one former player whose legacy spans both the baseball field and the realm of mental health advocacy: Drew Robinson. Drafted straight out of high school by the Texas Rangers in 2010, Robinson went on to play 12 seasons of professional baseball, spending time in both the minor and major leagues across three different teams. Despite the success of his athletic career, Robinson was grappling with intense and unrelenting depression behind the scenes, pain that ultimately led to a suicide attempt in 2020. Miraculously, Robinson survived, emerging from the experience with a renewed sense of purpose and appreciation for life. Since then, he has expressed his belief that honesty and communication are major protective factors against suicide, stating that he likely would not have attempted to take his own life had he been more honest about his struggles in therapy and in interactions with loved ones. His survival became a catalyst for transformation–personally and publically–as he set out to use what he learned from his own experience to support others struggling in silence.
Since then, Robinson has stepped back into the spotlight not as an athlete, but as an advocate for mental health. In a presentation called “Strength Isn’t Physical,” he shared his journey with raw honesty, reflecting on the pressures of professional sports, his darkest moments, and the long road toward healing. Robinson also underscored the importance of communication and the subtle yet powerful ways language shapes how we understand and relate to mental health. He advocates reframing statements like “I am depressed” to “I experience depressive symptoms sometimes,” emphasizing that even small shifts in language can foster empowerment and self-compassion. Such reframing can be equally meaningful both to those working to make sense of their experiences or to open up to someone they trust. Robinson also encourages viewing confidence not as an innate trait possessed by a lucky few, but as a choice, one that can be made regardless of uncertainty or self-doubt. For him, embracing vulnerability is not a weakness but an intentional and courageous step toward healing and growth. Through this work, Robinson hopes to be a source of encouragement for others, demonstrating that it is never too late to begin prioritizing one’s mental wellbeing.
Following his official retirement from baseball in 2021, Robinson joined the San Francisco Giants organization in a groundbreaking role as a mental health advocate–not only for players, but also for coaches and staff across the organization. In this role, he has helped foster conversations that challenge stigma, promote mental wellness, and create safer spaces in the high-pressure world of professional athletics. With Robinson’s influence, the organization has dedicated itself to teaming up with local partners to host events and push initiatives aimed at promoting youth mental health and suicide prevention. Additionally, with the support of Giants staff, Robinson also co-founded the Better Universe Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending mental health stigma, increasing awareness of available support, and filling the gaps in opportunities for those seeking avenues for self-growth.
Drew Robinson’s story is one of resilience, vulnerability, and ongoing recovery. By speaking out, he is helping to rewrite the narrative of toughness in sports–not as the ability to power through pain in silence, but as the courage to ask for help, confront personal struggles, and support one’s community with empathy and compassion.
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