Former football players team up with Babson College to help transition into real world

WELLESLEY, Mass. — NFL teams, including the New England Patriots, are now holding training camps as players vie for slots on a final roster.

Many of those players will find themselves off the team and their careers over while they’re still young men.

The average NFL career is only about three seasons, which means most players will need to find a new livelihood. Stars with big salaries and long term contracts are the exception, not the rule.

Chris Harrington is an example of one of those rank and file players.

He was drafted as a defensive end out of Texas A&M and played professionally for two years.

“I think it is pretty common knowledge in the league that everybody is going to get fired at some point, from coaches to players," he said.

Harrington said it is still a crushing blow when that happens.

“You are catered to your whole life, and so when it’s over and you’ve got to go out in the real world, I feel like a lot of guys are in shock, he said.

To soften that hit, the NFLPA created “The Trust” to help former players help themselves. One of their programs includes business classes and seminars at Babson College in Wellesley.

Harrington traveled from Texas to get ideas to grow his company, Lonestar Lobster.

“We’ve got a great young business that’s growing and just encouraged to be here," Harrington said.

He added he was very grateful to be able to tap into the expertise of the school’s business professors.

Professor Fred Nanni organizes the program.

He says former players, many in their 20s, can burn thru their football money quickly.

“Very often they are not able to sustain whatever that lifestyle was, the big house, the cars, thinks like, which I guess are part of being 23 years old," he said.

Bradie James was one of the lucky ones, having played 10 seasons for the Dallas Cowboys.

Over the years, he got nervous watching his friends struggle.

“They wasn’t making it," James said. "They were getting cut or released. So, at some point I was like, ‘Oh man, I’ve got to do something else.’ It is tough when you just all of sudden lose what you have done for so long, and now it’s gone. Like what do you do next?”

James now has restaurant franchises in the Houston area. The Babson classes help people like him keep those businesses on track and protect what they earn.

Nanni said there is a perception the former players have a lot of money and can often be the victims of deals that are too good to be true.  “We hear a lot of horror stories.”

“The Trust” offers a wide range of services to help former players transition to life after the NFL, including topics like brain and body health, financial literacy, and managing interpersonal relationships.

Cox Media Group