By John Ingoldsby, Player Engagement Insider
When you become a Baltimore Raven, from the day you arrive to the day you depart – and even afterwards – you always have a resource at the ready.
That resource is the club’s Player Engagement Department, which like all National Football League teams, provides current and former players with the tools off the field to help them succeed on the field.
“For all current players, we take a very ‘know your guy’ mentality in developing personal relationships with them and the important people in their lives to let everyone know that PE is available for them.” said Collin Williams, Jr., Ph.D., Assistant Director – Player Engagement.
“We want them to see themselves as more than football players, and understand that they are husbands, fathers, community leaders, and potentially have a host of other roles,” said Williams, who works with Ravens PE Director Harry Swayne, Player Clinician Tricia Bent-Goodley and Team Chaplain Johnny Shelton.
Another potential role having the highest priority with both the club and the League is that of being a college graduate, and Williams said the Ravens provide players with a number of resources to help them complete their undergraduate degrees while playing in the NFL.
“At the beginning of the season, we check in with our players to ask if they have graduated, if not how many classes they need to graduate, and how interested they are in making progress towards graduation,” Williams said. “For the players that have, we create a Graduate Poster that is strategically posted in our facility and circulated throughout the building and community to show the priority we place on graduation.”
Williams continued, “For the players that have not graduated but are interested in doing so, we help them finish with reapplying, enrollment, tutoring, and any other resources they require. Additionally, we try to motivate less interested players to consider the benefits of a degree up to, and including, engaging parents and significant others.”
Lastly, according to Williams, the club enlists the help of Danez Lockhart, the League’s Education Consultant, and maintains communication to determine the best way to turn their interest into a diploma.
Beyond this focus on graduation, Williams added that the club also offers resume-building workshops while advocating that players ponder, and even pursue in their spare time, potential next careers, citing the example of one player who has a keen interest in home improvement and is already acting on his labor of love.
This approach is reinforced with family involvement, starting with an opening meeting in September where they are taught how to navigate the stadium space, which will be helpful when they spend game day watching from the Family Room.
Additionally, parents and wives are invited to watch practice on Saturdays, and at mid-season there is a lunch for wives.
“We give them Ravens necklaces that day to show how we value the role they play, and also gather information from them through a short survey,” William said. “We recognize they may have a greater voice than we do in influencing the players.”
However, the players also have an outlet for their own voices through the team mentorship program, where they are paired with rookies typically playing the same position, and the veterans guide the rookies with advice on what got them there and how to stay there.
But that’s not all the rookies receive. As immediately as right after a player is drafted, they attend a rookie orientation on, “What it means to be a Raven.”
This means that in May and June over the course of 22 meetings they learn about all types of topics, including New Money Syndrome, Buying a Car, Establishing Credit, Social Media, Parenting, Networking, and Principles of Manhood.
“This gives us the most opportunity to interface with them immediately upon their arrival,” said Williams, who relayed that these meetings are only the beginning.
“Then during the season, we offer the Rookie Success Program covering subjects like Substance Abuse, Stress Management, Discrimination, and Managing Relationships, which can include bringing in facilitators as well,” he said.
But for every beginning there is an eventual ending, and the Ravens PE department has that covered as well.
“We also prepare players for life after the NFL, starting immediately when a player leaves the team,” Williams said. “We emphasize a very individualistic approach in making sure they are in good health -- mentally, physically and professionally. We reinforce that we are available to serve as a resource to them, and also will follow up to ask how they are feeling, what’s next in their lives and careers, and then keeping in touch from there.”
That ongoing communication can also include directing the players to the League’s Legends Community which serves as a resource for all former NFL players, while also enabling access to fellow Ravens alumni through the PE department database, in addition to notifying them of any club community relations events or other activities that may be of interest.
“Our holistic and familial approach has worked well for us in being the best resource possible for former, current, and incoming players,” Williams said.