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Former QB Rypien attempted suicide

Says he suffers from brain injury from playing days

SPOKANE, Wash. — Former Super Bowl MVP Mark Rypien said he has attempted suicide, hired prostitutes and suffers from persistent depression. Now, he’s wondering if he sustained brain injuries while playing football.

The 55-year-old former quarterback is worried about his future even as he revealed some lurid elements of his past.

“There were behaviors that were just bizarre,” Rypien said in an article published Friday in The Spokesman-Review newspaper and also broadcast on KHQ-TV of Spokane.

His wife, Danielle, said she has also worried about Rypien’s future.

“I remember thinking, `Oh my God, he’s going to end up in a home,”’ Danielle said. “I didn’t want him running around the street with a shopping cart.”

Rypien was a record-breaking high school quarterback in Spokane and then a star at nearby Washington State. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in 1986 and played until 2002.

Since then, he appeared outwardly to live a comfortable life in Spokane.

But he said that was not the case.

“My story is impactful because people see me in a different light. I want them to see me in an accurate light,” Rypien said. “I’ve been down the darkest path. I’ve made some horrible, horrible mistakes. But I’ve given myself a chance to progress forward.”

Rypien, who led the Redskins to victory in the 1992 Super Bowl over Buffalo and was picked as the MVP, said he played organized football for 26 years and figures he suffered several concussions.

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