By Craig Kelley
Colts.com
Published: June 4, 2012
Since 2005, the NFL has provided a chance for players to take advantage of business school seminars at a handful of top universities. The Colts have participated annually in the program, and offensive tackle Winston Justice this year again seized the chance to help ensure success off the field later in life. He urges teammates to think ahead, too.
INDIANAPOLIS – Thirty-two NFL teams share the on-field goal of winning a Lombardi Trophy as well as the wish to prepare players to succeed past the playing field.
One of many ways the league and its teams help players has happened annually since 2005 when individuals are given a chance to enroll in the NFL Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program. It is an initiative to assist players in being prepared for post-playing career ventures.
This past March, Colts offensive tackle Winston Justice went through the program for the second time during his career. Justice attended the Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University seminar that ran from April 1-5. He wanted to further refine his post-career business plans. It was repeat behavior for Justice, who went through the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania seminar in 2009 when he played for Philadelphia.
Winston takes a meticulous approach to his playing career, and he believes taking advantage of opportunities to benefit post-playing days is vital for each of the NFL’s 1,700 players.
“It’s important because the NFL is a profession that is going to end for everyone,” said Winston. “It will end fairly early in our lives, and professional football players are really short-minded. They really don’t see past the next day, which is good in a sense because that is the way we’re trained. We’re trained to take every day and make the most of it. You still have to plan for after football because it is going to happen.”
The seminars are just one way teams try to assist players. The Kellogg program focused on entrepreneurship, underscoring the fundamentals of investing and how to create and finance new ventures. Faculty members taught classes on finance, angel investing, equity versus debt capital, effective negotiating and marketing in the nanosecond world. The Harvard Business School conducted the other seminar for this year, helping attendees develop business ideas or plan in such areas as investments, real estate and retailing.
In past years, the Wharton seminar included topics of financial analysis, real estate development, stock market investing, negotiation skills, risk management and community reinvestment. The Stanford Graduate School of Business helped broaden understanding of evaluating opportunities in business, sports, real estate, investment and entertainment. All the seminars had formal programs or case studies, and they featured instruction by top professors.
David Thornton was a multiple-time attendee of the seminars during his nine-year career with Indianapolis and Tennessee and now as the Colts’ director of player engagement, he advocates others doing so, too.
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