In a candid conversation on Faith on the Field, hosted by Rob Maaddi, former NFL player Mike Jordan delves into the pressures of life as an undrafted free agent and the impact it had on his mental and spiritual well-being. Jordan’s journey through the NFL was far from the glamorous life that many imagine; it was a constant battle for survival.

Jordan recalls the anxiety of living day-to-day, unsure if his name would still be on his locker the next morning. The relentless pressure to perform, coupled with the lack of job security, took a toll on his mental health. “I just never felt comfortable,” Jordan admits, describing the constant fear of injury and the anxiety of possibly being cut from the team.

This pressure led Jordan down a path of self-medication. He turned to smoking, drinking, and other vices as a way to cope with the stress. “I knew my job had no security, so I just wanted to feel better until the next day,” he reflects. It wasn’t until after his playing days were over that Jordan sought therapy and began to understand the unhealthy patterns he had developed.