Life after football: searching for the thrill
People who have achieved success in sports may come from different backgrounds and have different stories, but they have a few things in common: they worked hard, made a lot of sacrifices, overcame obstacles, and conquered difficulties. For these reasons, former athletes probably don’t miss all the hardships, injuries, and other bad moments that happened along the line. But if they were real winners during their prime time, then they must miss the thrill.
Life of a pro
From numerous perspectives, a professional’s life in any sport is different to what the average person experiences. A potential reward can indeed compensate for all the trouble, but it is not a sure thing. Indeed, a lot can go wrong along the way. Even when everything does go smoothly, a successful career has an expiration date, and it depends mainly on an individual’s health and fitness. Undoubtedly, the best athletes are able to set aside enough money for a comfortable life or continue to generate revenue from other sources. In general, however, a good plan for after the sport is over could come in handy. Not everyone makes them, as it is hard to predict what the future will bring.
Embracing the pressure
On the highest levels of competition in modern sports, everything is larger than life, including the intensity, rivalry, and also the amount of pressure players have to endure. All the fans and fantasy football players are aware of this. Suffice to say, athletes have to have strong characters to make it in this world. Perhaps they even enjoy it, as it’s something they have to deal with every day during their careers. On the other hand, they deserve to relax away from all the noise. However, once they’ve moved away from a public presence and are missing the old days, they might start looking for other ways to feel the same thrill again.
The end of a career doesn’t always have to mean saying goodbye to the discipline. Some former players can count on employment as coaches, managers, TV experts, transfer negotiators, agents, directors, board members, and similar. These roles will allow them to be as close to the action as possible, whilst still establishing new goals and taking on challenges.
Dealing with a new reality
Of course, there are more creative ways to occupy oneself after a sporting career. Perhaps, that is the perfect time to search for other passions and discover new talents, even if they are a little unusual. Ex-footballer and NFL star, Richard Seymour, surely knows a thing or two about that. After his retirement in 2012, he began learning to play poker from his father. After a while, he started to play competitively.
Seymour’s game of choice is, naturally, the most popular variation of poker that is Texas Hold ’em. He regularly attends big live poker tournaments and has achieved some success there. He has competed at various events around the globe, including the World Series of Poker, which is often called the unofficial championship of the world. In the 2019 WSOP Main Event, he was classified in 131st place, which resulted in a prize of $59,295.
Not every athlete is fortunate enough to be able to try their luck in more than one sport like Michael Jordan did, who was known to switch between basketball and baseball during his time. Reaching a certain age creates many limitations. In the light of that, anything that makes us happy and keeps the competitive bug alive is worth doing.
