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First, can you walk me through your post-NFL time – what you’ve been doing since you retired?

I’m in the middle of writing a book now so I can only tell you so much!  I played 14 years for the Bengals and made it to two Super Bowls and lost both to the same team. When I retired I became a Cincinnati City Councilman. I continued on that ride until I became the GM for the World League of American Football’s New Jersey Knights team. That league set the seed for football in London, but it folded after two years.

But then Tom Steague-  the head of the Super Bowl – reached out to me after Super Bowl XXVII.  That was right after the Rodney King riots – they hired me as the Director of Community Relations to help insulate the NFL from the criticism of the white NFL owners coming in to the city leaving nothing behind when the game was over. I had the idea of creating the NFL Youth Education Trust which was a safe place for at risk kids in Compton- it was going to be in the same corner where the riots actually started. I went with Jim Brown and to negotiate the idea with the Bloods and Crips there,

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Bengals Linebacker Reggie Williams”

First, let me know what you’ve been doing since your time in the NFL?

Well, going back a bit, In 2010 when we had the owners-players dispute and were fighting over a new CBA, there was the work stoppage.  That was my eighth year in the league. As we know, football doesn’t last forever – I was already trying to find what the next ting was that would excite me after football.

The player admin then in New England  put me in touch with a real estate developer during the stoppage so I could shadow them a bit like an internship.and that continued during my off-times. I got an appreciation for valuable real estate and the economics of controlling real estate in desirable locations.  My older brother worked for a larger developer who never worked on deals under $50 million and saw a lot of smaller deals as a result that they passed on. So we decided to try one of those smaller deals on our own sometime.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Seattle and Patriot Special Teams Ace Niko Koutouvides”

First, let me know what you’ve been doing with yourself since your time in the NFL?

Well, after I retired I coached for two years in Green Bay for Forrest Gregg, then went back to my alma mater – Florida A&M – to be their head coach. I was there for eight years then I became the Athletic Director and stayed on there for nine more years.

I moved back home with my wife, but she was working and I had retired, Well she asked me what was wrong with that picture! So, I went back to work in the public school system close to home. That was an eye-opening experience.

I got involved in some community projects – helping the school system after seeing so much of what was happening in it. I formed a group called E-PAC and we hold a parent-student summit every year. We’ve been doing that now for nine years – we have motivational speakers some in and give away prizes as a hook to bring people in. We have the police come in and do skits for the kids and get support from the city and local organizations.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Bengals Cornerback Ken Riley”

First, let me know a bit about what you’ve been doing since your retired from the NFL?

I’ve actually been working in the media since I retired in 2002 – for the WJZ-CBS affiliate in Baltimore covering Ravens games. I also work in sports performance training for people from ages eight to 74. Basically that, and being available to my three kids who all or who have been involved in sports in college.

So I get to be a busy father, enhance people’s lives, and work in the media.

How hard was that post-NFL adjustment for you?

Anyone that goes through doing something they’ve done for a long time and is passionate about to stopping feels something. I looked at it with the balance of knowing that it was all going to end – that I was prepared for it – but at the same time being depressed about it. I was talking to a psychologist and was telling her how I felt and she told me I was depressed. I thought, wow, I really was depressed. Who knew? It was difficult and challenging, and humbling,

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Ravens Wide Receiver Qadry Ismail”

First, tell me a bit about your life after you retired from the NFL – what did you do after retirement?

After the NFL. I didn’t get my degree. I ended up getting into drugs and cocaine for a period of time.  I got into a drug treatment center though – I recognized that I needed help and wanted to be able to support my family and myself. I decided to get my life together and got treatment. That took six months. But I knew I needed another year to get help – to adjust to mainstream society. While I was doing that I got an offer from the Mayor of Chattanooga and worked with him.

After that I went back to school – to my alma mater, Lincoln University. I got my degree – I was on the Dean’s List. I moved to Florida and taught school, then Lincoln decided it wanted to start up it’s football program again and hired me as a defensive backs coach.  I became the defensive coordinator after that, then head coach. I ended up staying there for 10 years before I retired and moved to Atlanta.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Bengals Cornerback Lemar Parrish”