By Jim Steeg, National Football Post

"For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required." -- Luke 12:48

The recent tragic death of 20-year NFL veteran and Hall of Fame-bound LB Junior Seau has focused a great deal of attention on brain trauma and the impact on NFL players' lives post-football.

Some media have additionally looked at a more troubling situation which may affect many more players -- how ill-equipped today's NFL players seem to be for their transition into retirement. This is a sad phenomenon of the past 25 years. Prior to the 1990s, the vast majority of NFL players prepared themselves for careers when their playing days were done. The advent of multi-million dollar contracts were only just evolving. As hard as it is to fathom, as late as 1975, most NFL players were making less than $75,000 per year.

The NFL offseason in the 1970s and 1980s was truly that -- an offseason. Players had the time and energy to pursue other business ventures and even return to school to obtain their college degrees. Many of those players used their connections in their team's community to develop business relationships. The interactions at club and charitable endeavors allowed relationships to foster with the local business community. All of which provided valuable launching pads to post-NFL career opportunities, and in many cases, soft, successful landings.

The NFL player of the '70s and '80s ended their regular season in December and the Super Bowl was played in mid-January. The players did not return to the football complex until July. Players either stayed and established roots and careers in their team's city or many returned to college as their home. From my days with the Miami Dolphins, I remember players like Nick Buoniconti using that time to get his law degree or Doug Swift to get his medical degree.

As the 1990s approached, and the NFL was feeling the aftereffects of its battle with the USFL, the players began to benefit with increased salaries. The final settlement of the lawsuits over the Collective Bargaining Agreement in 1992 also brought new financial prosperity to the players. Unfortunately, in many ways, it also brought year-round training and organized offseason on- and off-field preparation. Teams started to require onsite offseason workouts, classroom sessions and more and more on-field activities during the winter and spring. The NFL offseason, which once ran from January to late July, shrunk to early February to late June/early July.

The NFL initiated programs to encourage players to continue their education, obtain internships in business and broadcasting and explore entrepreneurial endeavors. As great as the NFL's business management and entrepreneurial programs at Harvard Business School and Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania have been, quite frankly, they accommodate fewer than 5% of the players. Unfortunately, over the years, far too few have taken advantage of these programs, along with the league's broadcasting boot camps.

Futhermore, there developed a prohibition against teams employing players in offseason jobs and training, which would have given them a taste of a post-NFL career path, as there were salary cap implications to these types of employments.

The transition from the NFL into retirement is an extremely difficult one for most players. They have devoted all of their energies into making the team and staying on the team, every step of the way. Since the earliest of times, in high school through college and the NFL, this has been the players' complete focus. Developing football skills has been the priority of their bosses: the coaches. Their transition also can be inhibited physically, with increasing weight gains after years of eating large meals to keep up their weight and years of working out an extraordinary number of hours per week. Their transition also can be inhibited mentally, as they suddenly have too much time on their hands, after having lived a very structured life for a minimum of 26 weeks per year. Each and every day, almost year 'round, they knew what their schedule and their responsibilities were. Eat, sleep, think and dream football.

Among the issues that become paramount is marriage counseling. There not only is a transition for the player once he retires from football, but also for the spouse. The NFL Players Association estimates that 50% of ex-football players' marriages end in divorce. Many of the divorces take place within the first year of retirement. A divorce will quickly change the financial planning even the best prepared players have made for their post career. No wonder Sports Illustrated reports 78% of post-NFL athletes are broke within two to five years of retirement.

Imagine the structure from which a retired player leaves: you are told when to get to work, when to work out, when to be in meetings, when to be on the field, what to do on the field, when to eat, what to eat, when to board the bus, when to talk to the media, what to say to the media, when to meet with sponsors, and so much more. Your life has been structured -- programmed -- by someone else. In some cases, for decades, starting in college.

Unlike most businesses, almost every NFL player is either fired or forced to retire before they feel their time is up. If statistics are to be believed, for many this happens around the age of 25. Even a grizzled veteran may be fired at the age of 30. This is unlike most jobs with the exception of the military. For military veterans, a great deal of effort is placed in reconnecting them with the non-military world. They often are trained in technical applications for jobs outside of the military. In today's economy, we are seeing the difficulties of individuals in their 40s, 50s and 60s, who have been job-eliminated, and are forced to reinvent themselves, often having to develop completely different skill sets in order to find employment. An NFL player has to do the same thing, just by the nature of his career. Yet, here's the sad truth: Colleges and the NFL do little to prepare them for real life. Heck, George Clooney's character in the movie Up In The Air offered more transition.

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For the average fan, just imagine that you go to college to earn an accounting degree, then back it up with an MBA, pass the CPA exam with flying colors, work for five years and achieve partnership in your firm. And then, suddenly, at 40, you are fired. And then, you are inexplicably informed that there are no more accounting jobs for which you can apply. To me, this is like the story of Seau: Unanimous first-team college All-American, fifth overall pick in the 1990 NFL draft, 10-time all-pro, 12-time Pro Bowl selection, soon-to-be Hall of Famer who grew up in a poor Samoan family in Oceanside, Calif., played 13 seasons for his hometown San Diego Chargers, transcended American football and became a San Diego sports icon and the most successful Samoan athlete ever.

And then, boom, at the age of 34, he's fired by the Chargers and traded to the Miami Dolphins, where he spent three years before signing with the New England Patriots and playing another four seasons. And then, at the age of 40, he's fired again -- for the last time.

His restaurant in Mission Valley -- Seau's -- was his most successful business venture. Although he did a TV show for Versus, Sports Jobs with Junior Seau, none of the networks clamored to hire him as a football analyst after he retired in 2009. He raised more than $4 million for his Junior Seau Foundation and was extremely involved in philanthropic work in San Diego, yet while rewarding on one level to him, it didn't come close to filling up the void of retirement.

Colleges should not be exempt from criticism in the post-NFL career training. College football programs do not get evaluated by the NCAA for graduation rates for players who leave early for the NFL. This must change. More and more players are leaving school after their junior years. Those schools need to help, encourage and support players to get a substantive degree within three to five years of his departure. That should be an obligation in awarding a scholarship.

It took an active professor to push Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger back to his alma mater, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, nine years after he jumped to the NFL. He was four classes short of graduation. On May 6, Big Ben received his degree in education. It seems to me that universities are much more concerned about getting their pros to donate to the athletic program than getting them to fulfill their commitment to graduate.

The NFL has spent millions of dollars on the annual rookie symposium (only for drafted players) and the salaries of each team's player development directors. Unfortunately, in the case of the latter, this individual filling the role, in most cases, reports to football operations personnel. Players are greatly afraid of taking player development directors into their confidence as their issues may go straight to the general manager and head coach. In addition, the clubs need to be careful that their player development directors are true professionals and not, as in many cases, a former player just off the field. These are important roles, and the people who fill them must be trained professionals, have independence from football operations personnel, and uphold complete confidentiality. This individual cannot be the players' friend; he or she needs to be as professional as the psychiatrist is to his or her patient.

What I've always found ironic is that many of those who use many of the NFL's post-career education programs are not the ones who really need the help. Almost all the NFL's programs fall short because they are awareness-oriented, but do not seek behavioral changes. Those most susceptible to experiencing problems think they have it all figured out. They have the money; they don't want someone to tell them how to manage their lives or their finances; and they believe they will be the exception.

The NFL is the ultimate people business. Their product is the performance of the players. They can easily see their future, but it is important to get the best performance they need to have the concern over the future mitigated.

Adding to all these issues is the fact that many NFL teams treat their alumni poorly. Unlike the way players are treated as they return to their high schools or colleges -- welcomed back to watch or coach practice and stand in the team benches at games -- sadly, many NFL teams shut their doors to players once they are cut or are retired. There are far too many instances where NFL alumni are not welcome in team facilities at all. Oh, yes, they are welcomed back for alumni days, but do not have unfettered access to the facilities, aren't invited to watch practices or address the team, or even to attend games without paying for tickets.

There exists means to help make the transition to post football easier. The league may have to mandate procedures that each club would adhere to. Among these are ones that begin with the active players. The players need to be mandated to attend sessions, preferably each week, that address their post-NFL careers. This can be in conjunction with local universities, teaching the players money management, career counseling, entrepreneurship, testing for career paths, devising offseason internships, and most importantly, emphasizing continuing education. For example, an NFL player who has not graduated from college is not allowed to enter the workforce as a high school or college coach.

Once the player retires, the teams need to provide counsel for important issues, led by the player's health and physical well-being. Many players need to radically change their diets, lose their football playing weight, and adjust to the lack of physical activity the designed workouts and practices provided. The teams should provide the counsel, either in person or through internet programs. There are so many players who were demanded by their teams to gain weight, and it puts them in jeopardy in their future lives.

Teams need to continue to provide access to their facilities for the retired players. It is so easy to provide access to weight rooms and physical training equipment, especially in hours that the team does not use these areas. How simple is it for a team to provide a small locker room for the retired players to use?

The NFL has the money and the power to positively affect the lives of their most important asset -- the players. Is there not a moral obligation that exists?

The NFL is an organization that prides itself on establishing best practices for many club functions. Teams are always graded and evaluated by the league. It is time to establish best practices for transition programs for their players and alumni. Standards need to be developed and teams graded for achieving standards. The league has done this in many more subjective areas such as stadium security, fan behavior and game experience. They get graded each week on the field with team performance.

The NFL has been built on the blood, sweat and efforts of its players. Each group of players has passed down to others a better situation. So many NFL owners, staff and coaches owe their livelihood to the players of the past and present. The current NFL ownership have an obligation, and a responsibility, to make the transition of their alumni into the post-career life easier -- and possible.

Personally, I have attended too many funerals of players that are my age or younger. Perhaps the lasting legacy of Junior Seau will be a re-commitment by the NFL to their current and past players to ensure the lives they have will be as rewarding, and fulfilling, post-football as what they gave to so many while they were on the field.

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