What does it take to retire from the NFL and then maintain a sense of financial stability; without losing it all?
This is a great question in that almost 75% of NFL players are broke within a year from retiring. I’m not ashamed to admit that I was among that percentage that couldn’t maintain the same lifestyle in retirement that I did during my playing days; because I believe the more of us that are candid about our transition the more current players we can assist not to make the same mistakes. Financial education and incremental planning is paramount when it comes to an athlete successfully maintaining financial stability after the game. I feel that both the NFL and NFLPA do a much better job in helping players be better educated on the process. However, I also think that by the time the player reaches the pros that it is too late to fully educate him about what to do with his money. The reality is that most players do not come from financially stable households, therefore coming into the league with poor financial literacy. As a result, the lack of understanding perpetuates into uneducated decision making, but with way more money. It is my firm belief that financial literacy needs to be better taught in the athlete’s home so by the time he reaches college he will then do a better job of making better financial decisions as an emerging adult.
When you decided to retire from the NFL, what type of emotions did you feel?
Like most players the decision to retire from the NFL isn’t yours to make. Most players usually retire because of injury or just not being wanted by teams anymore. I was a combination of both. The wear and tear on my body was causing me not to be able to perform at the level that I was accustomed to, which was very difficult to deal with having been very athletic for most of my life. The emotion that I most associate with being forced to retire would be a mixture of sadness and frustration due mostly to my inability to do something that I loved to do.
Depression is a well-known fact among celebrities, did you ever experience moments when you just wanted to be away from everyone?
Retiring from the NFL is pretty close to experiencing a death in that it is the end of a way of life for most of us. Therefore, the emotions that are similar in death are also similar in retiring. I like most athletes have experienced a certain level of depression because of that, but at the same time I was fortunate to have people in my close circle that were able to assist me through it.
How did you finally embrace retirement?
I was able to embrace retirement by finding something else that I loved just as much and for me that was molding young minds. Being able to assist young student-athletes and professional athletes achieve their goals is something that I take a tremendous amount of pride in. This gave me a new lease on life because I am able to share my experiences about something that I loved and was good at with those that want to achieve a higher level of success.
In mentoring, is the interaction much like a coach to a player (with the youth)?
I view mentoring as an extension to being a parent. As a mentor I have always tried to reinforce the good characteristics that young people receive from their parents and teachers. This approach I feel doesn’t alienate other authoritative figures as much as it fosters their ability to remain important to the children as they should.
As an athlete, the pressure to perform at a high level was tremendous. Do you miss this pressure and if so how do you now apply it to life?
To be a professional athlete you must learn to look at pressure as a source of energy to help you do your job consistently at a high level. Having played for as long as I did; pressure was something that was as normal as breathing so you didn’t compartmentalize it as much as people may think. Therefore being retired, I can’t say that I necessarily miss it as much as I just look at it as something that will always be there to deal with so why not use it to my advantage.