DE PERE, Wis. (WFRV) NFL veteran and College Football Hall of Famer Don McPherson knows what it’s like to be tackled on the football field.

Captain of the undefeated 1987 Syracuse team, the All-American quarterback set 22 school records, led the nation in passing, and won more than 18 national “player of the year” awards.

Nowadays, Don is tackling the issue of violence against women. He’s taken his past experiences as a football player and leader in the locker room, and has put them into words to get the conversation started in his book titled ‘You Throw Like a Girl: The Blind Spot of Masculinity.‘ He will be speaking to students at St. Norbert College on Monday about his book and the message it offers. There will be a public lecture at 3:30 p.m. at Fort Howard Theater.

“The message really is about how do we engage men in a sustainable conversation about what I refer to as ‘aspirational masculinity,'” McPherson said on Local 5 This Morning. “Far too often when we talk about this topic of masculinity, we’re talking about the impact on women. What we don’t talk about are ‘what are the long-term complications on men?’ I’ve got so many players that I played football with, 32, who are dead. Six of those are suicides. What we’re not looking at is the mental health aspect of men not talking about their feelings and their emotions and being able to say ‘I’m struggling, I need help.’ That’s a part of this conversation around aspirational masculinity.”

Click the links above to learn more about Don and his book.