Savannah Bananas player and social media superstar Jackson Olson can remember the night everything changed.
It was early March 2025, and the Bananas were playing in front of a capacity crowd at Miami’s loanDepot Park.
“I’m standing out there and I [had] this really out-of-body experience where I was talking to myself and trying to get myself out of it,” Olson, 28, told Sports Illustrated in a story published Wednesday, May 6. “But it didn’t even feel like it was me talking or me moving. I wasn’t really controlling my body and it was a very weird feeling. That created so much anxiety for me not being able to feel everything. I’m like, ‘Am I having a stroke?’”
Olson wasn’t having a stroke, but he was having a panic attack, which caused him to exit the game in the second inning and miss the Bananas’ game the next day in Miami.
Jackson Olson Hid Love for Taylor Swift Out of Fear He Wouldn’t Be Scouted
“That moment caused a ripple effect for the next three months of like, ‘I hope this doesn’t come back,’ and then it would come back in the middle of a game,” Olson recalled. “I’m like, ‘Well, I can’t play.’ I have to go into the locker room and just sit there with my hands on my head and just wait for it to go away.”
He added, “In the next 24 hours, I would wonder what everyone’s thinking. Like all the fans were like, ‘What happened to Jackson? Is he sick? What’s going on?’”
By the end of May, Olson had managed to keep his panic attacks under control. Now, he’s hoping to shift the narratives surrounding mental health.
“I think a lot of people see me and they think, ‘Oh, that’s just the happiest kid in the world, he’s just playing and dancing on a baseball field and talking about how much he loves life and Disney and Taylor Swift,’” Olson said. “But it was cool to be able to share I’m also human like everyone else. Even though I’m doing these fun things, I still deal with anxiety.”
In a social media post shared with his more than 1 million followers in September 2025, Olson said the panic attacks subsided thanks to “my friends, my family, and finding joy in the little things.”
NHL’s Victor Hedman Breaks Silence About Absence to Focus on ‘Mental Health’
In addition to the Bananas’ incredible growth in popularity, Olson also recently revealed some big personal news last month. The baseball star announced he’s “in love” after going public with his girlfriend Maggie Sajak, daughter of former Wheel of Fortune host, Pat Sajak.
Olson said he has already met Pat, 79, who he called “a great guy” in an exclusive interview with Us Weekly earlier this month.
“Everybody’s nervous to meet the father of the person they’re dating, or mother or both,” Olson said.
He added, “I’m a very weird person, I’m a very out there person. I’m not going to hold back who I am as a person, and people seem to enjoy that company. I’m happy that I’m able to be myself truly in every aspect now.”
