Former Flyer Riley Cote appears in ESPN special examining the use of psychedelics for mental health treatment

At the onset of his four-year NHL career in 2006, former Flyers enforcer Riley Cote thought he was about to live out his childhood dream. As an undrafted, one-time skill player coming through the youth ranks in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Cote adopted a more physical game to give himself a fighting chance to sustain an NHL career.

But that sense of fulfillment quickly dissipated, replaced by a constant state of anxiety.

The bumps and bruises, and the concussions that came as a result of 51 NHL fights weren’t the hardest part of the job to deal with, according to Cote. Rather, it was the emotional ups and downs, the jacking yourself up to fight, then the come-down afterward — regardless of whether or not the fight ultimately happened — that induced seemingly endless worrying. Cote constantly fixated on the next guy, the next fight, and he could never fully settle his mind.

Feeling spiritually empty, Cote turned to parties, alcohol, and prescribed painkillers and muscle relaxers to quell the emotional pain.

“I was partying more than I ever played,” Cote said. “I was kind of hanging on to the dream. [I was] unfulfilled and just taking the partying to a whole ‘nother level. There’s definitely a difference between partying once in a while, and then partying to numb. Drinking and using substances to numb the pain. It’s beyond the physical pain.”

But toward the end of his career, after reading “Hemp for Health” by Chris Conrad, Cote learned about the medicinal uses of cannabis. He had used it recreationally in the past, but after undergoing two surgeries following the 2009-10 season, Cote used cannabis “intentionally and mindfully” as an alternative medicine to addictive prescription drugs that left him with unpleasant side effects. Not only did he experience cannabis as a pain management tool, but he also learned that cannabinoids like CBD can have anti-inflammatory properties in the brain.

That initial interest led Cote to learn about the potential for psilocybin mushrooms to treat mental health issues. Cote’s experience using psilocybin mushrooms, more commonly known as magic mushrooms, at legal psychedelic therapy ceremonies in Jamaica is one of the focal points of a new episode of ESPN’s E:60 called “Peace of Mind” that is available for on-demand streaming on ESPN+.

“I ended up being a figurehead in it, but it’s way, way, way, way beyond me,” Cote said. “This is for the movement, right? This is for the future of mental health, future of concussion, and TBI treatment protocol. This is way beyond my story. I was just fortunate enough to have overcome some suffering and darkness to be able to even tell my story to help participate in this.”

Filmed in February 2022, the episode follows a retreat run by Wake Network, a Toronto-based organization that is working to further the field of plant-based medicine with the help of clinical research, wellness professionals, and technology, ultimately aiming to incorporate those treatments into mainstream medicine. Cote initially got involved with Wake Network pre-COVID pandemic thanks to an introduction from 17-year NHL veteran Scott Thornton. The 41-year-old Cote, who played 156 games with the Flyers from 2006-10, eventually signed on as a paid adviser and invested in the company, helping to build out their athlete and veteran division.

Cote assembled a group of retired professional athletes, including former Flyers winger Steve Downie and Philadelphia-born former NFL offensive lineman Justin Renfrow, to attend the retreat in Jamaica that is highlighted in the episode. There, the athletes sought to address various mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The episode portrays an edited-down psychedelic therapy ceremony, which lasted for six hours. Cote said that the psilocybin, which is ground into a powder and mixed with juice for consumption, brings traumas to the surface, allowing the individual to face them and make peace with them.

“For people who have never done this before that have been sitting on their emotions and suppressing their emotions for years and years and years that have really dark depression currently and really just feel jammed up and imprisoned almost, a lot is coming up,” Cote said. “The mushrooms, the psychedelics only show you what you’re able to deal with in that moment.”

While psilocybin is legal in Jamaica, it is illegal in most of the United States. However, on Jan. 1 of this year, Oregon became the first state to legalize psilocybin at mental health treatment at licensed centers. Cote said Wake Network is planning to use the Jamaica retreat as a blueprint for the next market in Oregon.

With the E:60 episode out in the world, Cote hopes that it can be a catalyst for people in positions of power to change their attitudes surrounding psychedelics, giving way to further research into their potential to treat mental health issues.

“That piece might not be the end-all and be-all for their perspective on it,” Cote said. “But hopefully that it can be like, ‘Oh, wow, this is powerful and I should look into this more and learn more about it,’ because reality is, and I say this in a respectful way, it’s ignorance that’s keeping this from the masses.”

Cote, who now lives in Delaware, currently owns and runs Cote Culture Yoga & Mindfulness, a yoga and plant medicine integration brand aimed at finding solutions for increased vitality, happiness, energy, and performance. He also has made it part of his mission to show people who are struggling that there is hope for the future of mental health and traumatic brain injury treatments.

“This mental health crisis is more of a spiritual crisis,” Cote said. “We’ve lost connection to self, to nature, to source, and we’ve externalized everything. We’re just chasing pleasure, chasing happiness, chasing all these things. And I think the psychedelics really help bring it all inward. We have more control and power than we think we do.”