By Charles Way
Vice President, NFL Player Engagement
Another Player Engagement Boot Camp season came to a close in June, while soon your new season will begin when Training Camp opens.
As always, our ninth annual Boot Camp: Broadcasting (BBC) capped off our successful series, and fittingly our flagship four-day offering can now claim 90 graduates currently holding jobs in the broadcasting field.
This amazing average of 10 participants per year using BBC to launch their life’s work is the result of many reasons, starting with Dick Maxwell and Glenn Adamo graciously hosting us each year at the NFL Films headquarters in Mt. Laurel, NJ.
Then our broadcast partners and some of their top personalities -- including CBS and James Brown, FOX and Curt Menefee, NBC and Fred Gaudelli, and ESPN and Ron Jaworski – pitch in as faculty, and are joined by radio representatives from Westwood One and SiriusXM.
Their willingness to help make this meaningful program a reality that results in new careers has served as a model of sorts for our other Boot Camps and programs.
And I’m happy to report we also had a good year here as all our programs were in demand and did exceedingly well.
Our first Finance Camp in Coral Gables, FL included 26 current and former players, as well as some spouses and significant others, and it was exciting to see our players care so deeply about this important subject.
Before that, we kicked off the season by offering Boot Camp: Consumer Products in Houston, with legendary quarterback Jim Kelly talking about his business and a large group of our players seeing the power of becoming a brand.
We also hosted again Boot Camp: Franchising at the University of Michigan featuring Miami Dolphins Owner and UM Alumnus Stephen Ross, as well as our Business Management & Entrepreneurial Program at Wharton in San Francisco and Boot Camp: Sports Journalism and Communications at Bowling Green State University.
From top to bottom, I believe we elevated our offerings by delivering the highest quality of specific educational programs to an audience eager to launch or learn about their NEXT career.
But for many of you, your next career is now and will be ON the field as Training Camps across the league open in a few weeks to usher in a new NFL year.
You are all starting off on a journey that you hope will end at Super Bowl 50 in San Francisco.
I believe the best way to make your dream come true is to continue to strive to be the best possible player and individual you can be, both on and off the field, which can be enhanced by learning all about our PE resources and the multitude of other offerings provided by the League for you players.
So as you begin this transformative month, we wish all of you the best as you embark upon the upcoming season.
And speaking of a new season, be on the lookout in September for our lineup of next year’s Player Engagement programs, and be sure to sign up quickly for those that interest you.