Life After The NFL
During my eleven year career , there were a great number of positives that I enjoyed being in the National Football League. The competitive challenge of playing against other great athletes, the brotherhood is like no other work environment, and of course the pay wasn’t bad either. There were many other positives as well, the ability to affect change and positively influencing kids were two of the most important to me. I also dealt with some not-so-positive side effects of playing 11 years in the NFL. Arthritis throughout my body, broken bones, detached ligaments, to name a few. In addition, playing in the NFL can be very much like existing in a bubble. While it is the real world to those inside the business, to rest of the world the NFL is a fantasy world used to entertain millions.
I have zero regrets about my decision to play pro football, in fact if it were possible, I’d do it all over again. Playing pro football fueled a fire in me that I have never been able to recapture, which is one of the biggest impediments to a smooth transition into post football life.
Many outside outside of pro football assume former players struggle transitioning because they are “spoiled” ” lazy” or educationally unprepared to work in the “real” world. While that might be the case in some instances, I am of the opinion that most players struggle because they are not really sure where they fit in the world outside of the NFL. When a thirty-five year old players is sitting for his first non-football interview and being judged against twenty-three year old fresh out college, it is hard for an interviewer to comprehend what that player has been doing for the last twenty years and how that makes him more employable than the recent college grad. The twenty -three year old has an advantage in this situation because when asked where he has been since becoming an adult he can say college, maybe some internships. The player, on the other hand can only say ” I have been playing football for the last fifteen years.”
The purpose of this article is not to evoke sympathy, empathy or compassion for me or thousands like me. The purpose of this article is simply to promote a further understanding of why the transition form the NFL to everyday can be such a difficult task for many. Many very well educated, well rounded players struggle to adapt to life after football because truthfully playing football is what they know and in most cases they were never afforded the opportunity to develop themselves in other areas. The truth pro football is a full time job. There is no offseason.