JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Every year the NFL sends its rookies to a symposium in Aurora, Ohio, where they are educated on a variety of subjects ranging from concussions to off-the-field violence to making sound financial investments.
They are bombarded by experts, former NFL players, and former professional athletes, some of whom are there to talk about the mistakes they made during their career -- including drug abuse and DUI manslaughter. Like any business conference, the days are long, and because of that the message can sometimes be blunted by fatigue.
To reinforce it, the Jacksonville Jaguars have conducted workshops for their rookies, covering topics similar to the ones that will be covered at the symposium. They have also brought in former players and speakers, and the hope is the players will be able to absorb the material much better in a more intimate setting.
"Definitely interesting and helpful," said tight end Ben Koyack, one of the Jaguars’ two seventh-round draft picks. "We come in here thinking we know everything, but it’s nice to get some information we didn’t know.
"They [former players] tell us about some of their experiences, some of the things they did right, some of the things they did wrong to help us along the way so we can make the right decisions, too."
Marcus Pollard, the team’s director of player development and youth football, has overseen the workshops since he joined the team in 2013. Here is the list of this year’s workshops:
Interactive Game about Choices/Consequences
What You Put in Your Body (PED/Street Drugs), with Jaguars nutritionist Mindy Black
Potential Pitfalls of High Profile Jobs with speaker Dr. Earl Shuttle, a motivational speaker and business consultant
Credit Recovery, where the discussion centers around the importance of their credit score
Setting a Budget and Living Within a Budget, with former NBA player Antoine Walker along with members of Morgan Stanley
Wealth Management with Morgan Stanley, with former NFL player Bart Scott
Social Media and Networking, with Jaguars PR director Ryan Robinson and former Jaguars player Jeff Lageman
Being a Pro, with former Jaguars players Marcus Stroud and Greg Jones
Hearing Walker talk about his situation -- he made more than $110 million in his NBA career but lost it all -- was the most eye-opening workshop, rookie defensive tackle Michael Bennett said.
"The guy’s not a bad guy," said Bennett, the Jaguars’ sixth-round pick. "He made a ton of money and then lost it all, and people see that as he just flaunted his money away and it just went. But if you break it down it’s possible to lose the [$110] million that he made. People will blame it on his partying or whatever, but it was really a bad business partner. All it takes is going into business with the wrong person to lose a fortune.
"That really opened my eyes as to how much homework you have to do if you want to go into a business and who you choose to invest your money with is so important."
Among the things Stroud spoke openly about was his four-game suspension in 2007 for violating the NFL’s steroids and related substances policy. Hearing players such as Walker and Stroud talk about their mistakes was much more effective than just being lectured on not making mistakes.
"Knowing some of the mistakes they made can help prevent us from making the same ones," Koyack said. "It puts us on the right path."
Pollard said he hopes the messages reached the players.
"There’s no way to judge that," said Pollard, who played 14 seasons as a tight end with five teams. "I see them taking notes and engaging the people next to them. I can only assume they’re listening because they’re engaging.
"But you never know until they’re put in that situation [and they say] 'I remember Marcus talking about that. I remember Antoine Walker talking about that.'"
