“Mental illness, whether you study it, whether you have it, whether you advocate for it — it’s stigmatized,” said Bernice A. Pescosolido, the director of the Indiana Consortium for Mental Health Services Research and a sociology professor at Indiana University.

Dr. Allen Sills, the N.F.L.’s chief medical officer, said the Colts’ initiative could provide a model for other teams to adopt. “This is a tremendous service the Colts are providing not only to the organization,” he said, “but to their local community and throughout their state and beyond.”

“A lot of people feel as if you have to be in crisis mode to be experiencing mental health,” said Kalen Jackson, a member of the Colts’ leadership team. “But mental health is health. If you are alive, you are experiencing mental health.”

That ethos extends to players, who can face additional hurdles to seeking treatment given the entrenched machismo within pro football. There is, however, a gradual shifting with the N.F.L.’s introduction of initiatives and services like the N.F.L. Life Line, which connects former and current players to counselors.

Kicking the Stigma works to more directly feature players in public service campaigns, posting video testimonials from the former Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and the rapper Snoop Dogg talking about ways to openly approach mental health, and hosting round tables with current players from around the league.

That organization-wide advocacy has emboldened the team’s players to speak out.


A version of this article by Anna Katherine Clemmons appears in print on Oct. 1, 2022, Section B, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: The Colts Tackle Mental Health With Their ‘Kicking the Stigma’ Initiative.