When Jarren Duran steps onto the field, he plays like someone with nothing to lose. But back in 2022, the Boston Red Sox outfielder almost lost everything – including his life.
In the upcoming Netflix documentary The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox, Duran shares a deeply personal and painful chapter from his rookie season. The eight-episode series follows the team’s 2024 journey, but it’s Duran’s on-camera revelation that’s hitting fans and players alike on a very human level.
Early in the series, Duran opens up about how the pressures of performing in Boston, combined with a string of high-profile mistakes, pushed him into a mental health spiral.“I didn’t even want to be here anymore,” he says in a quiet, tense moment with director Greg Whiteley.
When Whiteley asks if he meant being in Boston or being alive at all, Duran answers: “Probably both.”
“I might have to be here for a reason”
Then, without flinching, Duran shares that during the 2022 season, he tried to end his life. He says he attempted to shoot himself – but the gun didn’t fire. “To this day, I think God just didn’t let me take my own life,” he says. “I took it as a sign.“
Instead of retreating, Duran began to rebuild. The series follows his emotional growth and his return to the field, where he became one of the Red Sox’s brightest stars in 2024 and earned his first All-Star selection.
Mental health in professional sports has been a growing topic in recent years. Athletes like Kevin Love, Simone Biles, and Tyler Matzek have all spoken publicly about depression, anxiety, and the overwhelming pressure to perform. Duran’s honesty adds another powerful voice to that conversation – and he hopes others hear it.
“Jarren is, by nature, a bit shy,”Whiteley told PEOPLE. “But he felt like someone out there needed to hear this. He didn’t want them to feel alone.”
As The Clubhouse hits Netflix on April 8, fans will see a team chasing a championship – but they’ll also see what it means to battle something far more personal, and far more important, off the field.
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