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OT: Former Packers DB Sam Shields Now Says He Regrets NFL Career (SI)

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ben said:
I love Shannon but man he misused a lot of dudes.
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When he wasn't stashing them in his doghouse too as was mentioned. Maybe sometimes it was deserved as we can never be privy to all the details but it's a bad look when a guy like Devin Hester is still talking about it.
 
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NC_Canes_11 said:
Pretty common to feel like he’s feeling right now. But it’s absurd to believe he’s not better off for having made $8 million in the NFL. He’s free to spend that money on schooling and a license to build houses.
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There's something strange about this interview, and I had the same thought: if you want to get into construction, you have the time after an NFL career. That holds true even if starting from scratch.

Does he think this possibility is foreclosed somehow?
 
NC_Canes_11 said:
Pretty common to feel like he’s feeling right now. But it’s absurd to believe he’s not better off for having made $8 million in the NFL. He’s free to spend that money on schooling and a license to build houses.
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Schooling and license? Hahaha!!! In South Florida all you need is a truck and the ability to ask for at least half the money upfront and you too can be a "contractor". It's easier than ever now too as you can just blame "supply chain issues" and "labor shortages" as to why you disappeared for months two days into the job.

I think Sam is definitely onto something here.
 
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I got to have a conversation with Bryn Renner and Sean glennon a few weeks ago. Both tried the NFL and didnt ever make it. From my conversations you could tell its very hard for them to let that part of their lives go.

They are so used to being the MAN that when they are just normal parts of society its hard for them to adjust.


Wish shields the best and hope he finds happiness.
 
RadioRahim said:
www.si.com

Former Packers DB Sam Shields Now Says He Regrets NFL Career - Sports Illustrated

“When you’re done with football, everybody forgets about you.”
www.si.com www.si.com

“When you’re done with football, everybody forgets about you,” Shields said, per Audacy’s Jesse Pantuosco. “Family, friends. I got one friend. In football, I had 10. Now I got one where I know that that’s my friend. That I could really say, ‘You’re my friend.’ I don’t even talk to most of my family members. Once football was over, everybody was over with me.”

At one point during the conversation, Le Batard asked Shields if, given the chance, he would do his football career all over again.

“No,” Shields said. “I’d be going to school, trying to work for home improvement. I’d be trying to learn how to build a house.”

The interview is pretty interesting, and a sad reminder of what life is like for a lot of these guys after football... Hope there are more support systems and post-career counseling for players in the future given how short football careers are to begin with.
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Remove football and change it to when the money stops
 
Arehel said:
Sounds like he is having a hard time with identify himself post career, which a lot of athletes have that problem.
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ALOT of athletes have this issue. This is something a ton of them have been working towards since they were little kids, like 6 years old. Also alot come from impoverished backgrounds so its not like thye had opportunity to try anything else, their focus was this, even in college the coaches try to limit what majors they can get because they want their focus on football, many get funneled into liberal arts/communications/criminal justice/etc. type degrees. They never get to expand their horizons and their ENTIRE identity becomes football, that doesnt even include the validation/fame/girls/money/etc that comes with it. Guys like Tom Brady took a couple weeks break at home and was like **** THIS and he had opportunity to run back, most dont but they would if they could.



There was a film on this recently also. Thomas jones was doing it:

theblackmaleimg.com

'Life After' Taps Into The Lives Of Twelve Former Athletes and Their Evolution Beyond The NFL

Showcasing The Everyday Impact Of Black Men
theblackmaleimg.com theblackmaleimg.com


‘Life After’ Taps Into The Lives Of Twelve Former Athletes and Their Evolution Beyond The NFL​


BMI Staff
by BMI Staff


October 28, 2022 0

For anyone, working your hardest to accomplish your dream and then feeling lost once you’ve accomplished it can be scary. The dopamine rush from obtaining your dream career, to new business, to new success, suddenly leaves you questioning yourself.


“Life After”, produced by Thomas Q. Jones, showcases twelve former athletes and their battle to find themselves after the NFL. Each episode highlights 1-2 athletes and their motivation to pivot into a new direction of their life. Athletes include: Thomas Q. Jones, DeMarcus Ware, Spice Adams, Bear Pascoe, Al Bubba Baker, Justin Forsette, Dr. Myron Rolle, Jeff Allen & more.


Creating this documentary and having self-realization throughout this process, Thomas did not realize how much football was apart of his life. Growing up in Big Stone Gap, Virginia with 5 sisters, a brother, and two parents who were coal miners. Thomas knew there weren’t much opportunities in his city and he wanted to create change for his family. After rushing into his passion, 3319 yards and 45 touchdowns in school, he received 90 scholarship offers from college, then his biggest offer from the Arizona Cardinals.

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“I didn’t realize how much i needed football until i retired. Once i retired, i realized i didn’t have a locker room to go to, didn’t have off-season program to get ready for, 1000 yards, pro-bowl, or super bowl to chase, what am I? What is my purpose?”
Thomas Q. Jones
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Thomas felt validated from football. Outside of being a good person, he mentions once you get drafted and go through different phases of promotion, from teams to positioning, you’re continuously validated. But after his 12th year in Kansas City, he felt invisible and confused, not understanding himself, next steps, shifting into a new regime, and transitioning into a new way of living.

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But after overcoming difficult habits, he decided to research and become a student in the world of acting and producing. Making the transition from Thomas Jones to Thomas Q. Jones.


“Acting saved me, It was my therapist, It saved my legacy”
Thomas Q. Jones
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Taking acting classes for 4+ years and meeting with coaches helped Thomas overcome his transition and dissipate the angry he would curate before and after football games. Starring in “Johnson’ (Renewed for Season 3), ‘P-Valley’, Being Mary Jane and producing content such as “Life After”, he finally reached a position to where he feels fulfilled. His goal is to help other football players and assist them in venturing in the same direction.

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Thomas Q. Jones on the set of “Johnson”
Be sure to watch “Life After” on Prime Video to view each of these transformative stories.
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crossover22[]_[] said:
I got to have a conversation with Bryn Renner and Sean glennon a few weeks ago. Both tried the NFL and didnt ever make it. From my conversations you could tell its very hard for them to let that part of their lives go.

They are so used to being the MAN that when they are just normal parts of society its hard for them to adjust.


Wish shields the best and hope he finds happiness.
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Was that the golf thing?
 
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JeddTheFisch said:
There's something strange about this interview, and I had the same thought: if you want to get into construction, you have the time after an NFL career. That holds true even if starting from scratch.

Does he think this possibility is foreclosed somehow?
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If he has CTE or some kind of injury that changed his life, I would understand. But athletes of all ages feel the same way he does, when they play their last game. But he has a whole life in front of him and a sh*t ton more money that 99% of the world so I really don’t understand it either. Sounds more like depression than regret.
 
Tad Footeball said:
Schooling and license? Hahaha!!! In South Florida all you need is a truck and the ability to ask for at least half the money upfront and you too can be a "contractor". It's easier than ever now too as you can just blame "supply chain issues" and "labor shortages" as to why you disappeared for months two days into the job.

I think Sam is definitely onto something here.
Click to expand...
Sounds like I need to call my realtor.
 
For all the ragging Randy’s getting , if it wasn’t for him Shields never even sniffs the NFL.
 
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Arehel said:
Sounds like he is having a hard time with identify himself post career, which a lot of athletes have that problem.
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Deep feeling of emptyness and, "what do I do now?" Mixed with, "everything's so pointless."
 
NC_Canes_11 said:
If he has CTE or some kind of injury that changed his life, I would understand. But athletes of all ages feel the same way he does, when they play their last game. But he has a whole life in front of him and a sh*t ton more money that 99% of the world so I really don’t understand it either. Sounds more like depression than regret.
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“It was three o’clock in the morning on some night in January 2017,” Shields wrote for The Players’ Tribune early in the 2018 season. “It felt like my brain was cramping, or like it was trying to break out of my skull or something. I was rolling around in my bed, whipping my body back and forth, trying to escape the pounding inside my head. Next thing I know, I’m curled up in the fetal position, shaking and crying.”
 
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