The University of Michigan (UM) may soon be on the forefront of treating student-athletes' mental health issues.

Speaking with the Huffington Post, Will Heininger detailed his football-playing career for the Wolverines and the bouts of depression he overcame to stay on the field. It was the 19-year-old's gridiron dream, but he had to learn how to maintain his mental health in addition to keeping up with a demanding Division I training regimen.

Thanks to a UM athletic trainer's recommendation to see a therapist, Heininger said he was diagnosed with depression, but beforehand he was experiencing things he did not understand.

"It's wonderful to play a sport collegiately, but only if it's a positive experience in your life," Heininger told the HP. "My life went from 100 to zero, and then to better than ever after getting help and understanding what depression is and how common it is."

The All-Academic Big Ten defensive lineman tore his ACL in 2010, but the emotional pain he was experiencing was far worse. After graduating from UM in 2011, he returned three years later to study sports management and found Athletes Connected, which is designed to help student-athletes with their mental health. 

"I would wake up, and from morning until I feel asleep - when I was able sleep - I had troubling thoughts that were utterly consuming," Heininger told ESPN's "Outside the Lines" in a recent interview. "Not a minute would go by in a day, without my depression on my mind... this, this felt impossible."

Daniel Eisenberg, a researcher from the UM School of Public Health, is the faculty supervisor for Athletes Connected. He said the perception of athletes - and it is especially true in football - is "it's important to be tough and figure things out on one's own."

"There is a concern for their status on the team and their playing time," Eisenberg said. "Some of them worry that if they reveal what people think of as a weakness, that might hurt their chances for playing."