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Richard Sherman on investing in a mental health company: 'It was time to address it'

NFL star Richard Sherman joined Yahoo Finance along with Nurosene CEO Ranj Bath to discuss Sherman's parternship with the mental health company.

Video transcript

SEANA SMITH: NFL star Richard Sherman teaming up with health tech company Neurosene to bring attention to mental health. Well, we want to bring in Richard Sherman, who is here joining us as well as the CEO of Neurosene, Ranj Bath. And Richard and Ranj it's great to see you both. Thanks so much for taking the time to join us.

Richard, let me start with you because we hear time and time again of players who struggle with mental health while they are either in the league or after they leave the league. I'm curious. Just talk to us about what compelled you to get involved with Neurosene.

RICHARD SHERMAN: Well, I think it's just been a huge issue for a really long time. And I thought it was time to address it. I think, obviously, the pandemic has done a tremendous job of making people sit back and be introspective about how they deal with their own thoughts, their own issues, their mental health in general, I think their health in general.

And I think it's the perfect opportunity, while people are recognizing the trials and tribulations of dealing with just mental illness day in and day out, I think it's a perfect opportunity for people to find help and to be able to communicate that and to be able to find the tools necessary to get to a better mental space.

And obviously, in my profession, there's a lot of people that have a difficult time dealing with those issues and addressing those things because it's so taboo. It's such, you're a professional athlete, you should be better than this. You should be above this. And it's like, I mean, regardless of that fact, you're still a human being. And I think that's the part that people don't recognize as much that these guys are still humans, these guys are still people.

They still have the same thoughts on a day in, day out basis that you do. And I wanted to use my platform and use my, I guess, celebrity to just show people, whether it's kids or my peers, that this is something that everybody deals with. And it's OK to talk about.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Ranj, Richard brings up an issue about the stigma over mental health issues. And mental health is as big part of health as physical health. So how does your firm help us bridge that gap?

RANJ BATH: I think even before the pandemic and coming out of the pandemic, there were a whole bunch of companies entering this mental wellness and mental health space. And we're coming at it slightly different from the wealth of meditation-type apps that are out there and also the apps that'll connect you with an online therapist.

We're taking a more scientific-based approach. Neurosene was founded in 2019 by a founder who's a functional neurologist out of Toronto, Dr. Daniel Belluci. And what we've done is we've digitized the experience of you seeing someone like Dan in a private clinic and almost democratized health care in the mental health space to make the activities that you would be passed through in clinic and made those available for all.

So like brain coaching, brain health exercises, educating people on the importance of coaching your brain and increasing blood flow to your brain. That's going to help to alleviate a lot of other symptoms. So we've brought those inside an app as well as a line of nutraceutical supplements which we just launched yesterday, which have been developed by Dan, who's also studied at the Institute of Medicine and put hundreds of people through brain scanners.

And we brought those into a line of supplements which work at a cellular level to work with nature rather than trying to beat nature. So very different from the wealth of supplements that are out there today.

SEANA SMITH: Richard, when we talk about mental health, Naomi Osaka pulling out of the French Open, pulling out of the Wimbledon, citing mental health issues. As a fellow professional athlete, I guess, what resources do you think, in your case the NFL, in her case professional tennis should be instituting in order to better address some of these issues before they get to a point like this?

RICHARD SHERMAN: I think it's difficult. I think it's difficult because these industries are so old. And they've done things a certain way for so long that it's difficult for them to change. They're so rigid in the way they deliver sports to the consumer and the way the consumer engages.

So I think a lot of times, people don't understand the anxiety that some people deal with in terms of dealing with the media and dealing with the questions that they're going to be asked, whether they're playing well or whether they're not playing well. I think the anxiety, a lot of times, is the same.

And you would hope that, at some point, you'd get to the point where athletes get to take a break from doing these media interviews or engaging with the public at times, whether it's a good game or a bad game, and just give them a break. Obviously, it's a part of sports to be engaging and for people to write stories on them. But I think that's the part that kills people mentally more than anything.

And obviously, in this social media age, a lot more people can reach you. And a lot more people can send negative messages your way. And I think that is weighing more heavily on the athletes and more heavily on people in general because there's just so much more negativity out there than positivity. And that's-- I mean, it's difficult to deal with.

So I think, at least in my case with teams, they're engaging therapists and psychiatrists. But even that is still limited.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Richard, I just got to ask you real quick, the headlines of the week. There was a kind of Legion of Boom from the Supreme Court, talk about unanimous, that NCAA decision. What do you think because they didn't go all the way? So what do you think of that decision?

RICHARD SHERMAN: What do you mean, it didn't go all the way?

ADAM SHAPIRO: If I'm a college athlete, I still can't make a full dollar for my ability.

RICHARD SHERMAN: But I think them addressing the issue is still huge. I think them pointing out the deficiencies and inequities that are wrong with the NCAA model are going a long way. And I think it's giving the student athletes more ability to tear down that industry.

I mean, obviously, in college basketball, a lot of people are just going professional. They're going to Europe. Or they're going to the NBA developmental leagues or the various other leagues that are being hatched out of necessity. And they're paying these guys six figures coming out of high school to play. And nobody cares to go get one year of an education just for free. Guys can get money to for their talent.

So I think the NCAA model is going to get torn down sooner than later. And I think this was a huge step towards that.

SEANA SMITH: Certainly opens the door for future legal challenges. Richard Sherman, great to speak with you. And of course, our thanks to Ranj Bath, the CEO of Neurosene. Thanks so much for taking the time.