Mindy Armstead Speaks Out on 'Aggressive' Comments from Fans as the Wife of NFL Star Arik Armstead (Exclusive)

NEED TO KNOW

• Mindy Armstead discusses the impact of aggressive fan comments on NFL players and their families as the wife of Jacksonville Jaguars star Arik Armstead on the latest episode of PEOPLE’s WAG World series
• She highlights her work as a psychiatrist to reduce stigma around mental health in athletes
• The NFL couple’s relationship began with a long-distance romance after connecting on Instagram in 2015

Think before you type.

Mindy Armstead spoke about the realities of an NFL family as the wife of Jacksonville Jaguars star Arik Armstead when speaking on the latest episode of PEOPLE’s WAG World series, and opened up about the hostile comments they sometimes receive from fans.

“I wish people would realize that the news on social media is 1% of who these guys are,” Mindy, 37, told WAG World host Skyler Caruso on the June 25 episode released exclusively on the PEOPLE app. “They’re humans with families who also read it… kids that could read it.”

Mindy, who wed Armstead in June 2020, is a dual-boarded psychiatrist whose mission is to spread awareness around topics that are difficult to talk about in an attempt to decrease stigma surrounding mental health, particularly in athletes.

“With sports betting too, I feel like a lot of the comments have gotten a lot more aggressive in recent years,” she said. “And so I wish that people would just see them not just as these bigger than life characters, but humans as well that can read this.”

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“It can impact their day and they have loved ones that are reading it too — so I think that would be my biggest thing is just see them as human and give people some grace,” added Mindy, who shares daughters Ayla, 3, and Amiri, 5, and 15-month-old son Audemar with Armstead, 32. The couple also has a fourth baby on the way.

She emphasized: “Believe me, they’re trying their hardest. They don’t want to have a bad game either. I promise you.”

Dr. Mindy and Armstead’s relationship began over a decade ago when he was selected in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. She was building a career as a psychiatrist in Buffalo, N.Y., while he was pursuing his professional football dreams across the country.

What began with an Instagram DM sent by Armstead to a “kismet” meet-up in Los Angeles not long after, evolved into a long-distance relationship and eventual wedding bells.

While Dr. Mindy admittedly wasn’t a huge football fan prior to meeting Armstead — “I actually was a little bit of a football hater,” she joked — she’s learned to love the sport, outside of the possible physical consequences athletes could face because of it.

“I almost went to neurology,” she shared on WAG World. “I was always thinking about CTE. I love sports, but I didn’t really see football for what it was. Now I’m a huge fan. I love the games. I actually understand it.”

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After their meet up in Los Angeles, their luck continued.

“Interestingly enough, the next weekend the Niners played the Bills in Buffalo and that only happens once every 10 years,” she said. “My first game I went to was when the Bills played the Niners in Buffalo. That was my first game with him… it was kind of kismet.”

Read the original article on People