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Troy Smith partners with, donates to 'Don't Make It Weird' foundation for mental health

IMG_6598by:Nick Kosko•11/02/24•

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Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports Copyright © 2006 Matthew Emmons

Ohio State legend Troy Smith partnered with Don’t Make It Weird, sending a donation to help resources with the mental health program.

“The mission of ‘Don’t Make It Weird’ is to normalize the conversation around mental illness,” the outlet’s mission statement reads. “Nothing is lost by having a conversation. Everything is lost by not having one. Don’t Make It Weird, talk about mental health.”

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President Harry Miller is an Ohio State alum and made the decision to walk away from football to focus on his mental health. He medically retired in 2022.

“Harry Miller is a great friend of mine,” Smith said. “He’s been through a lot. We all have been through a lot. Mental health is paramount and incredibly real for everyone, until you have the right thought process, until you have the different things that you can go to in your tool belt to help you deal with some of the ups and downs that you go through, things like this are important. 

“So that’s why, you know, incredibly gracious for Harry Miller, and the ability to be able to say that Don’t Make It Weird, foundation is the reason why we put this all together.”

The donation money goes towards resources for the foundation and Smith got to see where it all went. Vice President and Director Kristina Miller showed in a video Friday.

“Kris Miller here, with Don’t Make it Weird, and wanted to give a shout out and thanks to Troy Smith,” Miller said. “We recently received a check from the event organizer, and we just want to say thank you, and thank you to everybody who participated.”

Smith’s friend Harry Miller, who runs the organization, has been open and honest about his battle with mental health issues while at Ohio State. The former Buckeye found communication is paramount to success.

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“I have found that communicating is so important when it comes to mental health, depression, suicide,” Miller said, via the Ohio State University website. “It breaks my heart to think about all these other people who have committed suicide. What if that person just called their mom or a friend or somebody?” 

Like Smith, Ohio State coach Ryan Day was inspired by Miller.

“We knew that Harry was special,” Day said. “We knew that he was going to have an impact on people. Never would you imagine it would be like this and at such a young age, have such great impact on people.”