{"id":105048,"date":"2025-03-07T15:38:11","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T21:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=105048"},"modified":"2026-01-01T16:05:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T22:05:50","slug":"nfl-player-care-foundation-super-bowl-career-fair-helps-athletes-switch-gears-for-life-after-playing-pro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/nfl-player-care-foundation-super-bowl-career-fair-helps-athletes-switch-gears-for-life-after-playing-pro\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Player Care Foundation Super Bowl Career Fair helps athletes switch gears for life after playing pro"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Amanda Pirkowski
\n<\/b>Medill Reports<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

NEW ORLEANS \u2013 Former players changed out their pads for new uniforms \u2013 suits and ties \u2013 before entering the NFL Player Care Foundation Super Bowl Career Fair. Carrying briefcases and resumes, they searched for a next step after a career in football.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the postseason coming to a close, the NFL Player Care Foundation held its seventh career fair during Super Bowl week. Former players took professional headshots and shook hands with recruiters representing various companies, from tech to sales.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The foundation hosted the event to help athletes move from the football field to the workforce, as NFL players often face the transition out of their sport earlier in life than other professional athletes \u2014 the average retirement age for MLB players is 29.5, followed by 28.2 for NHL players, 28 for NBA players and 27.6 for NFL players, according to data from <\/span>RBC Wealth Management<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a little bit more stressful when you realize you\u2019re only in your late 20s, or early 30s if you\u2019re lucky, when you\u2019re done playing,\u201d said Jeffrey \u201cJ.J.\u201d Dielman, a former NFL guard. \u201cThere\u2019s a good percentage of us that don\u2019t have retirement money when you\u2019re done. Starting something new can be daunting, and it kind of was for a little bit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To make this transition more manageable for players, companies such as Fox Sports, Entergy, Atrium, Verizon, Fanatics, FedEx, PepsiCo and Amazon met with players one-on-one during the networking event.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Misha Linn, an Amazon technical recruiter at the career fair, said she appreciates the \u201ctranslatable skills\u201d former players have, which match Amazon\u2019s 16 leadership principles and make athletes strong candidates for positions in the workforce.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThose leadership principles are things that athletes definitely have, like the ability to earn trust, the ability to dive deep into problems, the ownership capabilities,\u201d Linn said. \u201cThey\u2019re not gonna necessarily be blaming somebody else, like they\u2019re gonna take accountability of what they\u2019re doing. So, our leadership principles are very translatable to what they\u2019ve already done and what they will do in the future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As an example, Linn said former Indianapolis Colts running back Dan Moore worked on her team at Amazon and showcased these qualities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a good team player, he also was willing to bring problems forward to the team,\u201d Linn said. \u201cVery sociable. Somebody that always showed up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Another former NFL player, Zebrie Sanders, represented Verizon as a talent scout at the fair. After suffering a hip injury during his rookie year with the Buffalo Bills, Sanders attended a program where the Player Care Foundation partnered with Microsoft Leap for a 16-week technological training.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The skills gained through that collaboration, combined with those developed through athletics, led him to a position with Verizon as a business data analyst.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sanders said he now enjoys helping other former players at hiring summits.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it\u2019s very powerful because, one, it gives you the chance to talk to employers that you don\u2019t have a connection with,\u201d Sanders said about the hiring network. \u201cNow you can put a face to it. Introduce yourself. It\u2019s now maybe a warm lead instead of a cold lead.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After the groundwork laid at the career fair, the NFL Player Care Foundation recommends follow-up on both sides.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe encourage all of the players to send thank-you\u2019s and apply to roles that they see, that they\u2019ve talked about – so really take that next step,\u201d said A.J. Forbes, the coordinator of retired player programs at the NFL.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAdditionally, we ask our partners to do the same thing,\u201d Forbes continued. \u201cIf they had made connections with players and had them apply for roles, follow up with them. Have those conversations. Set up something to build momentum on afterwards because this is the one event throughout the year where it just generates an unforeseen amount of momentum for players\u2019 careers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Amanda Pirkowski is a graduate student at Medill, specializing in sports media. You can follow her on Twitter\/X at @amandapirkowski.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Amanda Pirkowski Medill Reports NEW ORLEANS \u2013 Former players changed out their pads for new uniforms \u2013 suits and ties \u2013 before entering the NFL Player Care Foundation Super Bowl Career Fair. Carrying briefcases and resumes, they searched for a next step after a career in football. With the postseason coming to a close, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":994,"featured_media":105052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5485,5542,31,5486,5487],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medill-explores-2025","category-msj25","category-sports","category-super-bowl-lix","category-winter-2025"],"yoast_head":"\nNFL Player Care Foundation Super Bowl Career Fair helps athletes switch gears for life after playing pro - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/nfl-player-care-foundation-super-bowl-career-fair-helps-athletes-switch-gears-for-life-after-playing-pro\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NFL Player Care Foundation Super Bowl Career Fair helps athletes switch gears for life after playing pro - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Amanda Pirkowski Medill Reports NEW ORLEANS \u2013 Former players changed out their pads for new uniforms \u2013 suits and ties \u2013 before entering the NFL Player Care Foundation Super Bowl Career Fair. 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