Four years after the tragic loss of his only son, Dwayne Haskins Sr. is finally ready to speak. And his message is one of compassion, awareness, and hope.

Dwayne Haskins Jr. was a Heisman Trophy finalist at Ohio State, throwing for an NCAA-leading 4,831 yards and 50 touchdowns in his lone season as a starter. He was a first-round NFL draft pick in 2019, but his professional career unraveled quickly. He was cut by Washington after less than two seasons, and his life took a painful turn. On May 3, what would have been his 29th birthday, his father decided to honor him in a new way.

“Bro, it’s personal to me,” Haskins Sr. told USA TODAY Sports. “I’ve never said anything about Dwayne publicly.”

Now, through the family’s foundation, Haskins Sr. is hosting a mental health talk-back discussion on May 16 at the Gaithersburg Arts Barn in Maryland. The event follows a community walk organized with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). It’s the launch of a campaign he hopes to take nationwide next year.

“We knew our son had some mental health challenges,” Haskins Sr. said. “As a family, we recognize that it’s very hard for us to communicate that when a professional athlete is pursuing his dream, that he has mental health issues. There’s a stigma with that.”

He described warning signs that something was wrong with his son. “Mental health manifests over a period of time, then all of a sudden something will trauma a person, where they won’t be able to have effective decision-making. And it continually gets triggered and triggered.”

The timing is striking. The NFL has been ramping up mental health support programs, and Haskins Sr. believes his son’s story can help others recognize the signs before it’s too late. It’s a legacy of courage, compassion, and the determination to turn tragedy into awareness.