By Justin DeFreece
NFL Player Engagement
For the fifth time, NFLPE returned to Georgia Tech to host 38 former players at our tri-annual NFL Career Transition Program; our seventh to date. Many faculty members returned from the last program including Fast Lane(transition coaching), Professor Clarke (Finance), Casey Howley (Communication) and Felicia Hall Allen who specializes in finding your best self and realizing your potential greatness through effective networking. Felicia reminded players that the journey of a thousand miles starts but with a single step and that the impossible can be achieved through strategy, positivity, strength of heart, and focus; all characteristics which bring an NFL player through the ranks of competitive collegiate athletics and into the strata of the pros.
The program began with an afternoon of Health & Wellness at the Renaissance Hotel where attendees took part in a health fair driven by live healthy cooking demonstrations, informational consultations by NFL Life Line mental wellness counselors, and 1:1 consultations by CIGNA, the official NFL Player Benefits provider. After a brief break, the program moved into an interactive and engaging reception where players were invited to meet one another, NFLPE Transition Coaches, faculty, and get a sense of things to come.
The evening was keynoted by legendary Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Famer Franco Harris. Franco inspired attendees by emphasizing the values of finding humility, embracing hard work, and tapping into the network you've built while playing to start your second career. Mr. Harris regaled listeners with the story of how he created his reputable frozen food empire post-NFL by literally going door-to-door and securing orders with only the strength of his good name, a handful of samples, elbow grease and the ability to sell and build relationships with people. Attendees were surprised to learn that immediately following his storied NFL career Franco would personally move boxes of his goods himself, delivering each order in his modest car while establishing his company and creating his brand... mostly because he could not afford help at the time. Yet after decades of rising through the ranks, Mr. Harris would go onto employ many and emerge as owner of one of the most respected, profitable, and revered frozen food brands on the East Coast. It was a true lesson in finding and defining your own personal legend.
The event culminated with an interactive mock career fair in which many Fortune 500 companies and NFL sponsors engaged players and helped them test their newly-sharpened communication and networking skills in a controlled setting. Once again, feedback for the event was very positive with attendees remarking that the weekend was "a true inspiration" and "more than they had hoped for." Players received essential info on their individual benefits packages and the numerous Player Engagement services and programs available to them.
The NFL Career Transition Program is the precursor to the newly re-branded Transition Assistance Program (TAP) launching in the summer of 2013, which will seek to support NFL players in their transition with more of a holistic physical, emotional, and social wellness focus, a change that comes in response to popular demand for hands-on education on lifelong wellness by the growing former player population. This shift in programming will be executed by NFLPE and its network of experienced wellness providers and rigorously-trained Transition Coaches and is a task that NFLPE is eager and ready to meet.
Learn more about the Transition Assistance Program.