First he when from clean cut, to shaven, and then he grew out his hair and beard.
Why did he let himself go? Was it because of the guilt from the accident or was it something I missed?
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I don't think he necessarily let himself go per say. I think the accident made him awaken to what's really important in life. Remember the blind man's sign? It read "God took my eyes, and now I can see"...Something along those lines. It's similar in a way to him growing out his beard, in that materialism, including looks, no longer matter.
shareHe didn't want to be recognized by the public (he was somewhat famous prior to the accident as those kids recognized him on the street and wanted his autograph). Also he was quite handsome prior to the accident, and he didn't want any reminder afterwards of the person he had been. He didn't even want to recognize himself in the mirror. It was too painful for him to remember - the accident itself, and probably even the dreams he lost.
sharethenewval said it best. He was hiding from the public and you could say even from himself. He simply didn't want to see that face and be reminded of what he did. You can tell that he still feels a very large amount of guilt and has never really come to terms with what he did. The beard is a perfect representation of this fact.
shareLike his dad said, he lost his passion when he accidentally took the life of that child. He lost his passion for his sport and he lost his passion for life, too.
He was inattentive to his appearance - he just didn't care very much about how he looked and had been in a longtime personal odyssey where his appearance wasn't important to him. I figure he got used to it.