Penn State Football Player Shares Struggle With Eating Disorder

A Pennsylvania college football player revealed that he has undergone treatment for a binge eating disorder that he has been struggling with for more than a decade.

Joey Julius, a 258-lb. kicker for Pennsylvania State University, shared on Facebook that he has taken time off from the team since May to seek help. “Due to my increase in not only weight but also depression and anxiety, my team physicians started to notice not only a change in my overall happiness but also my performance as a normal human being,” Julius wrote. “Throughout this whole process I learned a lot about myself.”

The 21-year-old from Pennsylvania said he had showed signs of bulimia, “through stints of purging from extreme anxiety placed on myself,” and received three months of treatment over the summer.

More than 5,000 people have liked his post and several hundreds have either shared his story or praised Julius in comments for his courage and honesty.