Helping Transition Athletes to Life After Sports

ZHS Graduate Adrian McBride, Wife Co-Found Organization

By John Kerr
Sports Writer

ZANESVILLE - The problem of student-athletes being unprepared for life after college sports has prevailed too long.

That's beginning to change through Life After Sports, a not-for-profit organization created 18 months ago by former Zanesville High School football star Adrian McBride and his wife Julie at the University of Missouri.

College athletes are beginning to be educated for the biggest game...the game of life. Life After Sports focuses on educating and preparing the Division I student-athlete for when the cheering stops.

Adrian (Junior) McBride, 43, is a perfect example of not being fully prepared for life after football. After finishing a stellar career at the University of Missouri, well short in hours for a degree, he went on to the NFL and had a short stint with the Cleveland Browns and played one season with the St. Louis (Arizona) Cardinals.

However, after being cut a second time by an NFL team, McBride had nowhere else to turn. He ended up working at UPS, Rittberger Meats and as a bellhop at a luxury hotel in Columbus.

"I had no game plan. I had no real world experience and had no network built in. After two years in the NFL I had no one to lean on, and no idea what I wanted to do," said Adrian, who worked 15 years in the recruitment and placement business before co-founding Life After Sports.

While Division I college football has many players thinking they are headed for a long career in the NFL and easy street, the harsh reality couldn't be further from the truth. Three-quarters of NFL players are either broke and/or divorced within five years of playing their last game.

The problem of life after sports exists for all sports according to Julie (Dorn) McBride, a former two time All-American gymnast at the University of Missouri. She spent 35 to 40 hours a week in the gym training and didn't plan on life after college.

"I had no idea what I wanted to do," said Julie, Director of Life Skills for 450 student-athletes at her alma mater. "Football and gymnastics are very physically and emotionally draining. At the time, we were not thinking about our futures."

Julie and Adrian recall watching the NCAA commercial of how there are 360,000 student-athletes and they are all going pro in something other than sports. While it's nice for the girl at Stanford who becomes a doctor, that isn't necessarily what typically happens after playing sports in college.

Life After Sports can help the last-semester senior, but ideally targets freshmen student-athletes for the program. Those who get involved, do so on a voluntary basis. "We took a freshman basketball player from St. Louis and introduced him to a finance company. He said "hey, this is what I want to do", said Adrian, who has an office within the athletic department at Missouri.

Part of the program involves job shadowing and interning with athlete friendly companies who believe in the program and want to help the student-athlete gain the "real world" experience he or she will need upon graduation. These companies recognize the time constraints placed on student-athletes. At the end of the Life After Sports program, seniors attend a transition workshop for learning to deal with the emotional and practical challenges they'll face after sports is over.

Although many athletes believe they lack the required skills for a job, Life After Sports explains what assets they bring to the table.

"There are companies who want focused, disciplined and determined individuals who can transfer those skills from the field or court to business," Julie said. "Athletes have experience in multi-tasking, being team players, are focused and willing to go the extra mile. We're teaching them how to apply those skills."

Life After Sports also aims to help student-athletes find a desirable major, which can lead to a more stable career. NCAA guidelines require a student-athlete to declare a major by the second semester of their sophomore year. Student-athletes must build hours toward that degree, and not change majors, or a loss of college scholarships for their team could be the consequence.

While Adrian could tell his story to current athletes, he's discovered athletes who are recent alumni that come back to their college and talk about their experience hits home harder.

The workshops Life After Sports host are targeted toward many life skill needs, including finer points such as dining etiquette and dress etiquette, for job interview purposes. It also teaches what is and is not appropriate.

"A 30-second rap song at the beginning of your message on your cell phone could be a turnoff to a business calling to schedule an interview," Julie said.

Life After Sports also talks about the importance of having good credit, how to comprehend a home mortgage and many life experiences that college classes don't target.

Today's young student-athletes who are members of popular Web sites such as Facebook and Myspace may want to think twice about what they put on their personal Web page.

"Companies can Google them and see something they don't like, so they don't get the job," Adrian said.

Life After Sports is also an attractive recruiting tool for coaches.

"We're helping educate them for life after college," Julie said.

"It kind of helps strengthen the ties with the college. When leaving college, athletes sometimes feel used and ticked off at the school. Now, they can leave with a good taste in their mouth," Adrian said.

Life After Sports' primary focus is Division I programs, but they've already been in contact with several other colleges including smaller NAIA programs who may only have 100 student-athletes.

The McBrides plan to expand Life After Sports throughout the Big 12 Conference and continue building from there.

"We're trying to change the culture of college athletics and help one student-athlete at a time," Julie said.

Adrian and Julie have a 7-month old daughter Regan, and through a previous marriage, Adrian also has a 10-year-old son Andrew.