The Mental Matchup

Morgan Rodgers was a former Duke Lacrosse student-athlete. Morgan was a successful student in the classroom, she had a witty and creative sense of humor, an unmatched artistic talent and carried a fierce loyalty to friends, family and animals. From the outside it looked like she had it all.

In this 2-part episode, Dona And Kurt Rodgers tell Morgan’s story from their point of view. What they knew, what they didn’t know and what they have learned since losing Morgan to suicide in July 2019.

Morgan’s episode is split into two parts.

Part 1 centers around Morgan’s high school lacrosse success and her college recruiting process. Ultimately choosing Duke, she left Virginia to go to school in North Carolina. She enjoyed her classes, was the life of the party and was hell-bent on earning a starting position on the midfield line. Everything was aligning as planned until 10 days before the first game of her sophomore season she was sidelined with a devastating season-ending injury. After a year of rehab, still not cleared to play and with summer rapidly approaching, Morgan took a medical leave of absence to finish healing her body, coaching and spending time with her family. During this time, Kurt and Dona did not know what was going on with her emotionally. Morgan started isolating herself and was sharing less and less with her parents. Their relationship started to quiet. After taking a break from all the stress of the previous year, she seemed healthy, happy and ready to go back to Duke in the Fall of 2018 to get back on the path of which she had always dreamed.

Part 2 centers around Morgan’s return to campus in the Fall of 2018. She was medically cleared for play, more determined than ever and excited about the opportunity to work towards earning her spot on the field. This time the opponent she faced wasn’t physical – it was emotional and mental. Everything changed for her during this time. Dona and Kurt lead us through her last few months and explain the what, how and why Morgan’s Message was born.

You can read more on Morgan’s Message at www.morgansmessage.org or on Instagram @MorgansMessage.

Trigger Warning: Suicide is discussed in this episode.

If you or someone you know needs help, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 800-273-TALK(8255)

The Mental Matchup podcast is focused on creating dialogue about athlete mental health. This episode gives you a teaser of what to expect on this season of The Mental Matchup. Nothing is off limits. Throughout the season we touch on negative self talk, mindfulness, depression, anxiety, disordered eating, and much more — in short, all the things athletes face but don't openly discuss. The only way to destigmatize an issue is through shining a light on it.

Warning: some episodes discuss topics such as depression, self-harm and suicide. We will do our best to write in the show notes when potentially triggering topics are mentioned.