Father time can never be defeated, and an athlete’s career will always come to an end at some point.
In pro sports, every career must come to an end with the removal of the sneakers. But have you ever wondered what happens to athletes after they finish a career?
An elite athlete is a well-trained, well-scheduled person whose mornings, afternoons, and evenings are all dedicated to improving his body’s performance.
It’s easy to imagine how, after years of this type of training, the schedule becomes a comfort blanket, and how, when the event or career is over and that blanket is removed, the athlete is confronted with a huge sense of loss as if the identity he had built up over years of performing one task is no longer his.
While we often hear about the preparation and aspiration that went into the events, we rarely get a glimpse into the next chapter.
There are many sports where professionals are made, but in this article, we’ll focus on the three most well-known.
What Do Professional Athletes Do After They Retire?
Every sports fan has wished at some point in their life to live the life of a professional athlete. Traveling the world while playing your favorite sport and earning a lot of money sounds like the ultimate dream.
While this is how the lives of the world’s best athletes go, things aren’t quite so good for those who aren’t among the elite. These athletes don’t make nearly as much money, have to compete in less-than-stellar venues, and frequently have to stay in dingy hotels.
While this is a significant risk to take if you want to pursue a career as an athlete, there is even greater risk: you will most likely have a relatively brief career. Even if you avoid career-ending injuries, you’ll most likely retire from professional sports by the age of 35. And what are you supposed to do when that day arrives?
Pro athletes often have a difficult time deciding what to do with their lives after they retire. They continue to be involved with their sports in the majority of cases, whether through media, private coaching in academies, college coaching, coaching high-level players, or working for organizations.
After they retire, some players choose to return to school or find a regular job. Finally, some of them just relax and enjoy their lives.
Pro athletes have an unlimited number of career options after they retire, and they really do have some good options. Below, we’ll go over a few of the most popular sports in detail.
What Happens to Most NBA Players After They Retire?
What NBA players do after retirement is entirely dependent on their personal interests.
Kobe Bryant built businesses, and Michael Jordan also had a successful business. Magic Johnson became a real estate mogul after dabbling in the field, and Shaquille O’Neal had a long list of business ventures.
Bryant, for example, won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2018.
They invest in businesses and pursue their passions to diversify their portfolio. All of these retired NBA players, however, appear to have one thing in common.
What exactly is it? They appear to return to basketball in some capacity on a regular basis. Some examples are as follows:
- The Mamba Sports Academy was founded by Kobe Bryant with the goal of developing youth sports programs such as basketball and volleyball.
- The Charlotte Hornets are currently owned by Michael Jordan.
- Magic Johnson used to be the president of basketball operations for the Los Angeles Lakers.
- NBA on TNT employs Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith.
- Many NBA coaches, including Scott Brooks, Tyronn Lue, Nate McMillan, Doc Rivers, and Steve Kerr, were former players.
The list goes on. Cherokee Parks is a player development specialist at the NBA’s Manhattan headquarters, Luc Longley collaborates with the Australian national basketball team on a regular basis and Patrick Ewing and Penny Hardaway are NCAA basketball coaches.
Basketball-related podcasts are hosted by JJ Redick (who still plays), Matt Barnes, and Stephen Jackson.
What Do Soccer Players Do After They Retire?
A soccer player’s professional career is relatively brief. With the majority of them starting their careers at the age of 16, many of them will be retired by the age of 36.
Apart from some goalies whose top-flight careers can last well into their forties, those who aren’t will most likely be playing in a lower league than they were when they were at their peak.
For a retired soccer player, the most obvious career choice is soccer management and coaching. Many players begin training to be a soccer coach or manager while still playing because clubs are concerned about equipping their players with skills that they can use to earn a living once they retire.
They accomplish this by following the Football Association’s coaching pathway. They then find work as a coach or manager at a club once they have retired.
It is reasonable to assume that the higher a player’s level of soccer experience, the better the coach/manager they will be. Some top-flight soccer players have gone on to become trophy-winning managers, such as Pep Guardiola of Barcelona and Spain, who is widely regarded as the best manager in the world.
Many ex-soccer players have turned to the media since the Premier League’s inception in the 1990s, which saw an explosion of soccer matches on our television screens.
After failing at soccer management, some ex-players go into the media as commentators, summarizers, or presenters, but others see it as their preferred career.
TV is largely a career that attracts only those who have played at the highest level because it demands personalities and recognizable faces.
Former soccer players who played at a lower level, on the other hand, are frequently found working on regional sports programs and writing football columns for local newspapers.
Some soccer players prefer to avoid both coaching and working in the media in favor of more stable sources of income. This was how most footballers continued to make a living before the big paydays that organizations like the Premier League brought about.
Tom Finney, one of the greatest players in the game’s history, went on to become a plumber after retiring and expanding his business across the North West of England.
Players who never played on the highest level and instead played in the lower leagues will almost all need to work after their football careers are over, with many retraining for a variety of jobs.
Former professional soccer players can be found working as bakers, postmen, and builders, as well as accountants, fitness trainers, and salesmen.
What Are NFL Players Doing After They Retire?
According to the Wall Street Journal, the average NFL career span is 2.66 years across all positions.
So, after hanging up their cleats and putting away their helmets for the last time, what do NFL players do?
Ex-pro football players have landed in a variety of places in recent years, from morning shows to neurosurgery, from Broadway to Barclays.
LinkedIn recently analyzed data on over 3,000 former NFL players to see where they went next and discovered that the vast majority of them ended up in small business, entrepreneurship, or sales roles.
In general, some go on to work in football-related fields such as coaching, TV analysis, scouting, or as an agent, and others take day jobs, like you and me, as firefighters or insurance salespeople, because they either didn’t play long enough to make a lot of money or they spent it all.
Those who have made some money can open steakhouses or car dealerships (Don Shula, Mike Ditka) (John Elway).
Others have so much money that they can retire, though most of these people are highly motivated, so sitting around decorating cupcakes is unlikely to satisfy them for long. Some people volunteer their time and energy to help others.