WASHINGTON — The kicker is usually the little guy of any football team, but Penn State’s Joey Julius is the exception.
At 5-foot-10 and 258 pounds, he doesn’t look like an average kicker, and he doesn’t play like one either, having dished out and received some serious hits on kickoff coverage this season.
That’s gotten him more than a kicker-sized amount of attention as well, but on Monday, Julius went public with his battle against an eating disorder.
On his Facebook page, Julius explained that he had missed spring and summer practice while seeking treatment at McCallum Place, a center for eating-disorder treatment in St. Louis, from May 9 through July 26.
Julius said that coaches and doctors “noticed that I was not myself” and that “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.”
He added that “ … for the last 11 years of my life I have suffered through … binge eating disorder.” He originally thought he was bulimic, he said, but learned his “true diagnosis [through] extensive care this summer.”
Julius said that he was open to helping anyone who felt they might be in the same position as he was: “If anyone and I mean anyone guy or girl is struggling with the same or anything similar please message me as I will be in immediate contact to help in any way [I] can to provide information or insight on my struggles and I would love to help.”
Julius returned to the team this summer, and has been the kickoff specialist all season.
