By Troy Vincent
NFL Player Engagement
It seems like no sooner does your season start than you are already around the mid-season point, and perhaps even thinking about the postseason and hopefully playoffs.
So for some of you seniors, you are playing in the last football games of your life. This obviously begs the question of what’s next for you.
Regardless of what it is, it needs to start with a strong academic performance since that will serve as your career calling card moving forward, whether you are pursuing further education or beginning your chosen work career.
Even if football is in your short-term future at the college level or even the NFL, your grades are an important part of the picture of you, so you need to be focused.
That means finishing strong academically as you finish this football season, and carry that performance into 2014 and the second half of the school year that will end in May and June.
Nothing will negatively raise the eyebrows of potential employers and/or college coaches/administrators more than an academic performance trending downward as the school year progresses.
This sends the worst message imaginable – that you were somehow sliding by academically but now are no longer motivated -- to the most important influencers in your future.
Don’t do it since it sticks with you longer than you could ever dream possible.
Instead, at minimum, keep on doing what you were doing academically that enabled you to maximize your school experience by participating in all the sports activities you desired.
Additionally, this can be a good time to join and/or stay in school clubs and/or activities that will make you a more well-rounded person, which is ultimately what your future influencers most want to see when you show up for your next season, school year, or job.
And, if you really want to get ahead in the game of life now looming larger for each and every one of you, commit to taking your academic performance to the next level, and bolster that by broadening your horizons with other interests as well.
One way or the other with your season at or near its halfway point, your football experience will be evolving and perhaps even ending. So if you haven’t already, make sure the other areas of your life are in order, since they become more important with each passing day.