The 17 Rules of NFL Reinvention
How do pro football players reimagine themselves after the stadium lights dim? Here’s what some former stars have learned.
NFL players: They’re just like us! They consume 10,000 calories a day! They survive tackles from monstrous 350-pound linemen! They make millions, have groupies and retire at age 32.
Well, actually they’re not like us at all, except in one critical respect: they’re obsessed with reimagining their lives. The average NFL career lasts only about 3.5 years; post-career depression is common, and many former stars have trouble finding their way once the stadium lights dim. Helping them sidestep the crash is NFL Player Engagement, a sanctioned arm of the league that educates current and former players on next life steps. At this summer’s Broadcast Boot Camp—a grueling, invitation-only 4-day series of seminars and workshops for those looking for careers in TV and radio—James “J.B.” Brown, host of The NFL Today on CBS, spoke to three attending former NFL stars to find out what they’ve learned about career and life reinvention.
ANTHONY MCFARLAND
As a star defensive tackle for 9 seasons—7 in Tampa and 2 in Indianapolis—McFarland won two Super Bowl rings.
Rule 1: It’s the structure, stupid
“When you first come into the NFL, teams are obsessed with developing habits. There’s a specific time to work out, to eat, to practice, even to relax. That structure is what we built our lives around, and those habits become so deeply engrained. It’s something that lets you concentrate on the bigger things that really matter. Everybody needs structure. Without it, you’re just searching. That’s one of the great things that football teaches you about life.”
Rule 2: But don’t hesitate to let it crash and burn
“We all develop these habits and skills, and we want to continue doing them forever. But the hardest part about life transitions—and one of the reasons it’s so tough to shift from the NFL to something else—is that you need to get rid of those habits blocking your next steps. It’s like breaking a smoking or a drug addiction: sometimes you need to go cold turkey to move forward.”
Rule 3: You don’t need to be the superstar
“I was a lineman—one of those big guys doing the grunt work for every play, 60 of 62 snaps a game. When you play the toughest positions on the line, you develop true character—football character. And it also teaches you also how to be humble. There isn’t a lot of publicity, but we’re central to winning. So you learn how to go and do your job really well and move forward without getting a lot of recognition. That’s a useful thing for anyone to know.”
Rule 4: Keep your eyes wide open
“The truth is, I never really dreamed about the NFL—I dreamed mostly of finding a way to get out of my small town, Winnsboro, Louisiana. I got an athletic scholarship to LSU and this thing called the NFL just kept popping up. I got drafted and away to Tampa I went. It was the first time I ever left Louisiana. I saw the palm trees and the beaches and I never wanted to leave after that. But I started thinking about next steps while I was still playing. I was very fortunate enough to get a local radio show for a few years during my playing days. It was an opportunity and I jumped on it. People realized I liked to talk. I’m just an old country boy from Louisiana who likes interacting with people. It was something I found out I was good at.”
Rule 5: Make yourself uncomfortable
“By the time football was ending, I was getting anxious. The people I graduated with at LSU in 1999 had sent out their first resumes a decade earlier. They started a foundation and built a brand. By the time I got out of the league and spent some time starting a family, I felt far behind. So that was scary. But, in the end, I knew what it is that I wanted to do—I just didn’t know how to get there. And that’s why the Broadcast Boot Camp has been so good for me. It thrusts you into an uncomfortable position: trying something new. It allows your brain to move in different directions. It’s like the first time I made a tackle: ‘Hey, this ain’t bad. Maybe this is something I can improve on and go forward with.’”
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