Iowa Alum Big E Gives Mental Health Stigma a Smackdown
PHOTO: OWEN AANESTAD/HAWKEYESPORTS.COM
Former Hawkeye football player Ettore "Big E" Ewen waves to the crowd at Kinnick Stadium this past fall.
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ttore Ewen (08BA), better known to pro wrestling fans as Big E, returned to the University of Iowa campus this past homecoming to talk to students about mental health.
As rates of anxiety and depression in college students rise nationwide, mental health and wellness has become one of the UI’s top priorities. Efforts are in place to improve access to mental health information and resources across campus while decreasing stigma. Ewen’s presentation at the Iowa Memorial Union included sharing his own experience with depression while a student at Iowa.
Originally from Florida, Ewen first came to Iowa on a football scholarship, but a series of injuries not only kept him off the field but also increasingly affected his mental health, leaving him feeling like he let his team down.
“I think one thing that we often talk about with athletes in the time you’re injured is the physical toll, but what we don’t talk about is the mental toll, that loss of identity,” says Ewen. “Because when you’re hurt, you’re not able to do the thing you love.”
A concerned coach encouraged him to seek counseling, and Ewen was diagnosed with depression. He devoted the next several years to healing, including keeping up with therapy, searching for the right medication, and receiving some treatment in a psychiatric unit.
“I truly felt like someone who was drowning, someone who was just trying to get air,” he says, “and for me, medication just allowed me to stay afloat for a bit until I could continue to get better and better.”
Lost without football, Ewen wasn’t sure how he would finish college, much less what he would do next. But he credits his instructors, coaches, and friends for supporting him through his struggles and pushing him toward opportunities. One professor encouraged Ewen to continue attending Iowa for grad school, which gave him a new focus.
PHOTO: KIRK S. MURRAY/UI OFFICE OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION
Ettore Ewen talks with University of Iowa students about mental health during a visit to campus this past fall.
That focus soon shifted again. While in grad school for health and sports studies, Ewen learned about a conversation Iowa wrestling alumnus Mike Doughty had on a plane with Jim Ross, a WWE announcer at the time who was interested in recruiting former Hawkeyes for pro wrestling. Ewen, a wrestling fan since childhood, answered the call. Now a WWE world champion and tag team champion, Ewen says he enjoys using his platform to share his story and spread joy.
“I love now that I have a testimony, that I can stand up here and speak earnestly, openly, and honestly about everything that I went through,” says Ewen, who also recently served as an honorary captain for the Hawkeyes’ homecoming football game.
Today, Ewen says he feels settled and driven to help others. He emphasizes finding daily ways to work on personal mental health, and above all, building caring and supportive communities.
Says Ewen, “There’s still so much to live for, so much to fight for, so much to wake up every single day and push for.”