Student athletes are some of the fastest and toughest people around, but behind the strength and public persona is a human being with complex emotions and real-life struggles – whether or not these on-field heroes like to admit it.

Anxiety and depression are not weaknesses, former Vols football player Derrick Furlow Jr. told Knox News, and he is working to break that stigma through specializing in name, image and likeness deals between student athletes and mental health organizations.

Sports Life Business, Furlow's brand for authoring and public speaking, has expanded with SLB The Agency. To forge relationships with student athletes in this new NIL era, Furlow is employing former Vols standouts who had their own unique mental health struggles at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

SLB The Agency will work with athletes on all types of NIL deals, not just with mental health companies. Furlow said these deals could range from larger player payments to smaller exchanges.

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"Everyday people look up to athletes," Furlow said. "(These NIL deals are) going to make it OK for the everyday person to realize: 'Hey, I'm dealing with something, I'm experiencing something. Maybe I should go get some help.'"

Student athletes will secure NIL deals

Sure, money can't by happiness, and former Lady Vols star Alexis Hornbuckle is careful to distinguish a one-off difficult moment from her regular struggles with anxiety and depression.

"No, money is not going to take away all of your mental health problems at all," said Hornbuckle, who is working as an ambassador for SLB The Agency. "Maybe the anxiety doesn't come on as strong or as fast, but that's a strong maybe."

Alexander Johnson was not a part-time student or a part-time athlete; he worked full time at both. Even as a standout linebacker from 2011 to 2014, he recalls taking out loans just to have money for food and gas.

"One of the biggest things that I noticed when I was in college, my family went to go buy a 45 jersey and they couldn't even get a jersey – it was sold out," he told Knox News, fighting back tears. "I know a lot of people say you get paid ... to come to school. What that means is the school makes billions off of these students – billions off my back."

After finishing last season with the Denver Broncos, Johnson is an NFL free agent. He also plans to become an agent with SLB and is on track to be the first athlete to sign himself to the agency.

"I'm glad (Furlow) was able to bring me in just because I lived it, I experienced it," he said. "And it just touched my heart being able to know I've overcome this stuff, and now I'm able to help other kids or students and be like, 'You can overcome it.'"

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How VFL chose mental health focus

The agency's mental health focus was a bit serendipitous. Furlow, a Knox News 40 Under 40 recipient in 2021, was working with a local media agency before it refocused to start Ketamine Media. 

The company works in "communicating with and connecting to individuals interested in exploring novel treatments for their mental health care," according to a February news release.

Through Ketamine Media's work and its relationship with Furlow, SLB has access to a network of mental health providers.

Furlow believes having athletes in agent and ambassador roles will be key to the success of the business, which will rely on commission work through NIL deals as payment.

"SLB The Agency is for the athlete, by the athlete," he said. "One of the biggest things that I wanted to do was put together a platform where athletes can have some representation of guys that have done been there, done it and lived it.

"So now, these new student athletes that's getting these NIL deals, they're not just dealing with somebody that went to law school that didn't play their particular sport that they have no relation with or no common ground with."

While not every agent or ambassador will hold a sport management degree, Furlow said, the former student athletes will go through state protocols for certification.

NIL relationships should be genuine

SLB will start off working with "homegrown" athletes in Knoxville, Furlow said, before expanding to other markets. The company ambassadors will have less of a time commitment than agents, although agents can work full-time jobs with commission work on the side.

Johnson, for example, plans to get certified as an agent in the city where he gets signed to play football.

"You just become that middle person, and you're not necessarily always on the phone, but you're building a genuine relationship with them," Furlow said. "That's what we do anyway (as former athletes). ... We didn't have to go do nothing different. We just didn't have an agency that said we did it."

Student athletes have two ways to market themselves: through their on-field performance or through their personalities, Furlow said.

Next, Furlow is helping athletes connect with nonprofits to give back to the community, build their brand on social media and show their personality. This type of work could help them leverage NIL deals in the future, he said.

Jacqui Pearl, daughter of former Vols basketball coach Bruce Pearl, will be leading SLB's nonprofit division, Furlow said.

"In the locker room, (athletes are) who you're closest to," said Hornbuckle, who became the first player to win an NCAA and WNBA title in the same season. "(Former athletes have) been there or we're going through it or we can connect them to those resources.

"But just athletes using athletes – not feeling like you got to go outside because there's no way you can understand the mind of an athlete if you've never been one."

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football player starts NIL agency emphasizing mental health