Chamber Luncheon - January 2025

Description

The Flint & Genesee Chamber and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan are excited to announce Eric Hipple as January’s chamber luncheon keynote!  Hipple is a former NFL quarterback whose ten-year career with the Detroit Lions includes two playoff bids, a divisional championship, and the Lions' MVP award for the ‘81 season. From 1995-2000 Hipple was a color analyst for the FOX Detroit’s NFL pre-game show.

In 2000, Hipple lost his 15-year-old son Jeff to suicide.  Since then, he’s devoted his life to building awareness and breaking down the stigma surrounding depressive illnesses.  Eric’s received many awards for his work, including the Presidential Citation at the American Psychological Association’s 2006 Annual Convention, the prestigious Life Saver Achievement Award from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in 2008, the Detroit Lions’ 2010 Courage House Award, and in 2015, the University of Michigan’s Neubacher Award for work with stigma associated with disabilities. Hipple’s also an accomplished author, publishing a study examining depression among retired football players in the April 2007 issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, and in 2008, an award-winning biography, “Real Men Do Cry.”

Eric speaks nationally and internationally on mental wellness with an emphasis in providing support to the military, veterans, and youth. 2025 marks his fifth year working with Blue Cross, sharing his messages of resiliency, mental fitness, connection, and normalizing the conversation surrounding mental health with our many partners throughout Michigan.