Once the Cheering Stops: The Life of a Retired Pro-Athlete

Life after retirement for professional athletes looks significantly different than those retiring outside of pro sports. Many professional athletes retire during their late twenties or early thirties while the rest of the nation is retiring at their mid-fifties or sixties. The amount of money they were guaranteed during their games is no more, and they are now forced to enter the real world with only what they have saved to last the rest of their lives. Professional athletes have a limited skill set, because they have dedicated the majority of their lives pursuing their dreams in their sport. The majority of professional athletes go bankrupt because they lived a lifestyle of luxury and excessive spending during their careers rather than saving money for their future retirement. The life of a retired pro athlete looks like living a life struggling to keep afloat financially and avoiding bankruptcy. Many retirees look for another career to supplement their lacking income. Some return to college to earn a degree, others search for jobs involving sports (newscasting, reporting, commentating, etc.), some invest in endorsements, and the very unfortunate are homeless.

Transitioning from life as a professional athlete to a life of retirement is incredibly difficult. Athletes are accustomed to spending exorbitant amounts of money on cars, houses, dinners, and other luxuries. Many athletes live from paycheck to paycheck, and when they retire they no longer have any source of income. The frivolous lifestyle they once led isn't possible any longer. Athletes face an identity crisis as well. They were known for their performance on the field, yet when they stop playing they have to accept another life and reality they never needed to embrace before. Going from the top running back to a retiree is incredibly difficult, and many athletes feel lost or forgotten once they stop playing.

I think athletes struggle so much with their money because we live in a society where outward appearance is considered extremely important. People feel pressure to have the newest gear, the most expensive luxuries, and spend more money than the next man. Athletes are signed at an incredibly young age and lack the forward thinking to plan for their retirement. We as a society do not teach kids in high school how to manage finances, how to save money, invest, or plan for the future. When we have so many young athletes given millions of dollars, of course they are going to do a poor job at spending it wisely. They lack the information on how to take care of their money wisely and are pressured by their peers to flaunt what they have.

I have considered the issue of bankruptcy in professional sports. It makes me mad because oftentimes these individuals are made out to be villains. I think it is incredibly sad that pro athletes who were highly respected during their careers are now being looked at as irresponsible and selfish when they struggle financially. I think that society is to blame for this issue. We are not teaching our children how to manage money in the future, and we are teaching one another that it is better to show how much money you have based off of your possessions rather than saving for down the road. These athletes are given millions of dollars at such a young age and lack the resources to make educated decisions with their resources. We are setting them up for failure.

Sport, Politics and the Olympics

1968 Olympics: Mexico City, Mexico

The 1968 Olympics held in Mexico City were surrounded by political unrest and controversy. Two separate groups of people voiced their opposition towards their homeland and were met with swift and relentless backlash. Only ten days before the Olympic games were to take place, over 10,000 students gathered at the Plaza de Tres Culturas to protest against the Mexican government and peacefully listen to speeches. The uprising was viewed as threatening to the soldiers sent to disperse the masses, and shots erupted into the crowd. Dozens of innocent citizens were killed and hundreds were arrested. Later in the Olympic Games, black sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos won gold and bronze medals in the men's 200 meter race. When called to the podium to hear the national anthem, both men wore a black glove on one hand, bowed their heads, and rose their fists as a tribute to black pride. They wanted to bring awareness to the injustices faced by blacks in America during this tumultuous time. Prior to their gesture, they were booed leaving the stage and banned from the Olympics permanently.

The actions taken by the students in Mexico and Tommie Smith and John Carlos best represent Eitzen and Sage's political use of sport as a vehicle of change in society. There is so much media attention and hype surrounding the olympics, and both groups of people used this heightened focus on the event to bring light to the injustices that were taking place in their own country. America was at the peak of the civil rights movement, and both Smith and Carlos believed that bringing awareness to the racism in the U.S. was equally important as their accomplishment of winning olympic medals. I disagree with the statement, "Sport is pure and devoid of political interference", particularly because of the events that took place at the 1968 Olympics as stated above. One of the goals of the Olympics is to remove all political biases from the games in order to hold events that focus primarily on the talents of the athletes. The mere fact that this has to be done shows that politics do interfere with sports. As stated above, the reason why Smith and Carlos were banned from the games was because they violated those terms. Politics undoubtedly affect sports and athletes, through the institutions they have control over or the regulations they enforce; and it is difficult to imagine a world where political interference does not exist.

Eitzen and Sage, Sports and Politics (Provided on the University of Colorado at Boulder D2L website)

1968 Summer Olympics: Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Summer_Olympics

1968: Black Athletes Make a Silent Protest: BBC America. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/17/newsid_3535000/3535348.stm

London Calling: The Globalization of the NFL

Until recently, the NFL was considered to be strictly an American organization. However now the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is expanding the organization and London is the target.

The NFL is an American organization, so it may not make sense to expand the sport outside of U.S. boundaries. This may be puzzling to viewers and fans, but to the NFL itself and its investors, expanding the sport gives it more attention and leaves the possibility of it becoming as globally popular as soccer (futbol). Not that the NFL is competing with soccer to be the most popular sport worldwide, but there is a great deal of money spent by fans to attend games. If American football can expand its popularity, the organization can grow and make more money.

So why London? Well, that's where the money is. Back in 2007 the first competitive NFL game to take place outside of the American continent was hosted in London with a great deal of success. The United Kingdom actually does watch American Football, and people from all corners of the continent travelled to watch the game. Bringing attention to the sport outside of its home turf means more TV time, more fans, and more money. Not to mention the cost of living is much higher in London than it is anywhere in the United States.

Great, so we just play more games in London and maybe even set up a new football team that lives in the UK. Then fans will travel from not only Europe but from America to watch games at a unique venue located outside of the country. More money for the NFL and the fan base diversifies, all is well, right?

Wrong. The distance from London to the East coast is roughly the same as from Florida to Washington state. However, if the London team were to play a game anywhere near the West coast, the plane ride would take a significant toll on its players. Changes in time zones can be difficult to adjust to as well. Also, what if NFL players would prefer to live in the U.S? Living outside of the nation you called home for your entire life is a drastic change, even if football careers do not last particularly long.

Incentives can be implemented to level the playing field between those who are on teams in the U.S. and those living in London such as pay raises, increased draft picks, or an extra bye week for the organization. These conditions may ease the strain of the difficulties faced by London athletes, but it definitely does not solve all of the problems.

Creating a new NFL team for London may be appealing at first glance for the league, but in reality it may create more problems than positive outcomes for the sport itself. After all, it is the players and coaches who will be making the time commitment to traveling across seas and living in a foreign country, not the fans.