by Jarret Johnson for Inside the Red Raiders
Texas Tech linebacker Xavier Benson announced Thursday via Twitter he is taking a leave of absence from being a football student-athlete at Texas Tech to “improve his mental health”. Benson released the following statement with the announcement:
“My entire life I felt like an outsider. Those around me never fully understood who I was, and, to be honest, I’m not sure I fully understood myself. I was in survivor mode and could never really catch a break in life. I know no that I need help and want help. With that, I have decided to take a leave of absence as football student-athlete here at Texas Tech, so I can improve my mental health. This isn’t a decision I take lightly, but it’s I know will help me in all walks of life moving forward. I want to be more productive for my friends, my teammates and most importantly my family–not just now but in the future. I know I need help with dealing with my past and how it affects my personal life. My hope is that my story can inspire anyone facing the same challenges I’ve battled my entire life to seek help. I’ve already learned it’s OK to seek help. It’s OK to talk to others. That’s how healing begins. Please know you aren’t alone.”
Along with the statement, Benson added a message in the tweet which read: “Know I will be back, thankful for the people that support me. MUCH LOVE”
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound linebacker appeared in all 12 games, with 10 starts last season as a redshirt freshman. He tallied 57 tackles, four tackles for a loss, a sack and a quarterback hurry from his “Raider” outside linebacker position.
Benson signed with Texas Tech in 2018 out of Texarkana (TX)Pleasant Grove. The former three-star recruit was rated as an 84 recruit, the No. 1,232 overall prospect in the country, the No. 86 outside linebacker in the nation and the No. 178 overall player in Texas for the 2018 class according to the 247Sports Composite, an average of the major recruiting ranking services.
Texas Tech head coach Matt Wells released the following statement regarding Benson’s leave of absence:
“We fully support Xavier as a football program. He will continue to get the support he needs from us as a staff and as a program, and we ask those outside our program please respect his privacy as well as the privacy of his family at this time. Mental health is an important issue not only to college athletes but to us as a society, and we will continue to provide the necessary resources to our student-athletes here at Texas Tech.”
