In January 2010, NFL Owners pledged $100 Million to the players pension fund.
The NFL is combining with an organization to address one of the most serious issues that NFL players face: What to do when their career has ended.
According to Barry Wilner of the Associated Post, they have created a career transition program that begins next month. A four day course from June 7-10 will be held to inaugurate the program designed to help former players make the transition from football to the business world. The NFL will pay for tuition and accommodations for the initial class of 45 retired players.
The classes will focus on personal finance; realistic new career expectations; communication skills; developing a personal brand; and the importance of health and well being.
Applicants will submits applications along with an essay detailing their goals for the program.
“The career transition program offers us an opportunity to broaden our relationship with the NFL to provide more services to players as they transition into their post-playing careers,” NFL Alumni president George Martin said Wednesday.
Martin, who had a wife and four children to support when he retired, said it doesn’t always go smoothly for players when they retire, and any programs that educate former players as they enter “real life” are valuable tools.
“This is absolutely essential,” said Martin, who spent 14 years in the NFL, retiring in 1988 with one Super Bowl ring. “Look at the fact there is a high attrition rate for players when they go from the role of professional athletes to the real world. They have a tough time adjusting.
The NFLPA added its support of the program Wednesday.
“Anything we can do to assist our retired players with their transition into the business world is a positive for everyone involved,” union spokesman Carl Francis said.
The NFL said this is only the first of several developmental programs aimed at helping retired players.
As a psychotherapist and relationship coach who specializes in helping professional athletes transition beyond the locker room, I can’t highlight enough how excited I am to see this need being addressed. Most of the athletes with whom I work have a difficult transition because their professional sport has been there life! Tremendous energy has gone into being the best athlete they can be. This includes a total mindset about what it means to be a professional athlete and what it takes to get there. It ends at some point (sometimes abruptly due to an injury), and many have no idea where to put that energy that was once consumed with being the best in their field.
Without a sense of team, many have difficulty finding their “self” outside of their professional sport. Most suffer through this transition by themselves, not realizing they are not alone in their experience. Life does go on, and many of these athletes have invaluable skills and opportunities to offer outside their sport. It is refreshing to see the NFL (among other leagues) to put some focus in a much needed area.
Finances, weight loss, and business are high priority in helping these athletes transition. Let’s not forget that creating healthy relationships (with self and others) is absolutely essential in helping any young professional succeed. We need not look far for media headlines to report “good” athletes gone “bad” to see how overwhelming the success or failures in professional sports can be. For each rise to the summit or fall from it, I can assure you, there are more wanting support with creating a healthy relationship with their significant other, family or friends. More importantly, they are eager to find the most important relationship of all, the one with their “self”. When they are champions at this, success at life beyond the locker room is inevitable.