Former Ohio State Buckeyes football player Harry Miller was once a five-star prospect and a starter on a team that played for a national championship. But after mental health struggles that left him suicidal, he has walked away from football and become an advocate for mental health. And now, he’s being given a unique honor.
Harry Miller has been invited to attend Tuesday night’s State of the Union Address as a special guest of First Lady Jill Biden. The move comes as President Joe Biden emphasizes mental health. Miller was one of 25 special guests who “personify issues or themes to be addressed by the President in his speech, or they embody the Biden-Harris Administration’s policies at work for the American people.”
“Miller is a senior in mechanical engineering and a former football player for The Ohio State University. In 2022, he announced he would no longer continue to be a student-athlete to prioritize his mental health and has since become an advocate for mental health and emotional wellness,” the White House said in a press release. “President Biden has named tackling the mental health crisis a key pillar of his Unity Agenda, laying out a strategy to transform how mental health is understood, perceived, accessed, treated, and integrated – in and out of health care settings. Since taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration has significantly increased federal government investments in mental health support for Americans across the country.”
This probably isn’t exactly where Miller saw his life going when he signed with the Buckeyes, but it’s a huge honor nonetheless.
