By James Thrash
Manager of Player Engagement
This year’s NFL Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program continued to be a huge success. The five day BM&E program ran from March 19th – March 23rd on the beautiful campus of Harvard. The 34 participants consisted of one Director of Player Engagement from the Jets, Dave Szott, as well as both current and former players, including Byron Leftwich, William Montgomery, Robert Reynolds, and Micheal Young, just to name a few. The participants’ interests ranged from franchise owners, family business owners, entrepreneurs, and players looking to make better investments, to players just looking to find what options may be available to them while they’re playing and when they transition out of the NFL.
Day one kicked off with the topic of understanding and managing personal finances. The professor from Harvard used a mock case study of a football player who played for six years in the NFL to teach the subject. Participants took a look at the case study’s income statement, balance sheet, and expenses to determine what was done correctly and what areas could use some improvements. This case study method encouraged all of the players to really engage in the entire program. It was not the typical professor standing up presenting to the class the entire time; participants were able to voice their opinions and ideas.
Each morning players broke up in small discussion groups to prepare for the day’s case studies. The case studies covered a range of topics including: entrepreneurship, evaluating a franchise, developing and evaluating business plans, managing a personal brand, and leadership style and performance. One of the program highlights was having Gary Fencik, former safety of 12 seasons with the Chicago Bears and current Head of Business Development at Adams Street Partners, address the participants. Gary started off with a clip of himself appearing in the 1985 Super Bowl Shuffle video. He spoke about his playing days and also about his transition out of the NFL. Gary was very transparent in sharing the difficulties he faced in transitioning out of the NFL, and also the education that empowered him to overcome these challenges.
The participants really enjoyed the camaraderie they shared as they reestablished old relationships and established new ones. The week was spent sharing and encouraging each other as they improved their own business strategy and leadership development. Both current and former players were able to view themselves as not just football players but also as business men. The program wrapped up with closing words from the professor and certificates of completion handed out from Harvard Business School to all the participants. The players left the program better equipped to improve their financial decision making ability. Whether the participants plan on starting their own business, investing in an existing business or franchise, or just improving their financial decision making ability, this program covered it.