ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) \u2014 Contrary to popular belief, the Buffalo Bills have two MVPs on their roster \u2014 quarterback Josh Allen and Bills sports psychologist Dr. Desaree Festa, affectionately referred to as Dr. Dez.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While she may not be a household name outside the organization, her impact at One Bills Drive cannot be measured.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Dr. Dez, I\u2019d give her MVP role, because a lot of guys utilize that resource,\u201d second-year defensive tackle DeWayne Carter said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Dez, I think, is one of the most vital people in the organization,\u201d offensive lineman Alec Anderson added.<\/p>\n
Festa joined the Bills after the 2020 season came to an end. She had been working in Charlotte with different sports teams and leagues, but got a call from Orchard Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeeting Coach McDermott, meeting Brandon Beane, seeing what the team was doing here, I knew was something special and I wanted to be part of it,\u201d Festa told 7 Sports.<\/p>\n
Dr. Dez spends most of her week meeting with players and coaches, talking about anything and everything. She believes being present is important and it allows her to build a foundation of trust with her team.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to understand the player, what\u2019s going on for them in their role and in their life, and what can uniquely fit them,\u201d Festa said. \u201cAnd then the player and I team up together to come up with solutions and strategies to help optimize them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels like a safe place for me, I know I can always go in Dr. Dez\u2019s office and talk about anything that\u2019s going on in my life,\u201d wide receiver Jalen Virgil said. \u201cSometimes we need somebody, we have our families, we have our friends, but sometimes you need someone who is there on a daily basis to be able to connect with you and be able to empathize the different things that we go through on a weekly and daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n
On game days, Dr. Dez is on the sideline with the players and coaching staff, observing body language and providing encouragement. Sometimes it\u2019s just a simple fist-bump or \u201cyou got this\u201d to let the players know they\u2019re prepared and capable.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re not in the right head space mentally due to life overall, it\u2019s going to be hard to perform, so all of it’s connected, and Dr. Dez does a great job for us,\u201d Bills head coach Sean McDermott said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is, like I said off camera, a secret weapon,\u201d cornerback Ja\u2019Marcus Ingram added.<\/p>\n
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the perfect time to share some of Dr. Dez\u2019s journey. Being open and honest about mental health isn\u2019t always common, especially with young men, but Festa believes her team is showing the strength that comes with being vulnerable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think a good way to notice the growth, and I think this would interest you, is like listen to the way they talk in their press conferences,\u201d Festa said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy therapist told me to leave the past in the past and that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to do, and I\u2019m going to move forward because that\u2019s all I can do,\u201d Bills cornerback Tre\u2019Davious White said on April 22nd.<\/p>\n
\u201cI meet a lot with Dr. Dez, and she has done a ton for me,\u201d Tyler Bass said after his game-winning field goal against the Miami Dolphins in November. \u201c(I\u2019m) just really learning and getting tools from her, it just kind of prepared me for this game and moving forward, so I\u2019m really grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
So what\u2019s her advice to those who want to improve their mental health?<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, we want to reframe mental health from being a negative to a positive,” Festa said. “This is something that can elevate you and that you can leverage to get you to even the next step. Taking care of your mental space can help you go from good to great, great to greater, greater to best. So it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean there\u2019s a problem, it just means that this is a really important aspect of you to just give more attention to.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) \u2014 Contrary to popular belief, the Buffalo Bills have two MVPs on their roster…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2048],"tags":[215,214,53,2086,7,4704,6,14253],"class_list":{"0":"post-66197","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-buffalo-bills","8":"tag-bills","9":"tag-buffalo","10":"tag-buffalo-bills","11":"tag-buffalobills","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-highmark-stadium","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-one-bills-drive"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114542928686818711","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}