FanHouse Barret Robbins

One of the greatest NFL tragedies of the past decade is the story of former Raiders center Barret Robbins, a Pro Bowl player whose career was destroyed and his personal life ruined by a mental illness that took far too long to diagnose.

Robbins' untreated bi-polar disorder, or manic depression, caused him to experience wildly alternating mood swings marked by intense, psychotic highs and devastating, depressing lows. It opened doors to alcohol and drug abuse, ended his NFL career, derailed his marriage and nearly got him killed by Miami police during a psychotic episode in January 2005, when Robbins attacked officers after they confronted him breaking into the manager's office of a South Beach bar.

Shot in the lungs and heart, Robbins lay in a coma for nearly two months. He's been in and out of jail and substance abuse facilities ever since.

Today, our society is better at understanding and accepting mental disorders. Troubles that were once delegitimized are now seen as serious medical issues and are attended to as carefully as physical ailments; people who were once discredited for being different are now seen in a different light.