The National Football League is like a fraternity once you become a member, you’re in it for life.
It also allows you to do some good for the community.
Several dozen former NFL players were in the region Sunday and Monday to participate in a series of fund raisers organized by the Capital District chapter of the NFL Alumni Association, including Pro Football Hall of Famers Deacon Jones, Larry Little, Lenny Moore and Jack Youngblood.
The good part of that is we’re able to get together and use what we’ve done in the past as a tool to try and help kids today,` said Youngblood. `Any time you can do something for a child that’s in need of something ` whatever it is ` I think we have an obligation to do that.`
The players began their tour Sunday with their annual trip to Saratoga Race Course, where they signed autographs for a $5 fee that benefited the Southern Rensselaer County Boys and Girls Club. Then on Monday, the players teed it up at Shaker Ridge Country Club in Colonie for their annual fund raiser for the Center for Disability Services.
`I think we have a special tournament because what we have is we have an opportunity for these players to come together for two or three days, have camaraderie, talk about the past and have some great memories. That’s what gets them coming back,` said local NFL Alumni chapter president and former Indianapolis Colt Tim Sherwin.
Past NFL Alumni fund raising efforts have been well supported locally. More than $500,000 has been raised in the 12-year history of the golf tournament and other charity activities.
`The thing is there’s that saying it takes a village to raise a child,` said Sherwin, a Watervliet native. `The same thing with a successful (golf) tournament ` you need a community behind you. They’ve done such a great job here coming together and supporting this idea.`
Some former players’ involvement in charitable work doesn’t stop with NFL alumni functions. Former New York Giants running back Rodney Hampton heads his own foundation in Houston, where he helps inner city children stay on the right track and aids high school football players in the search for college scholarships.
`That’s my passion ` giving back and helping kids, and at the same time telling them don’t make the same mistakes that other guys did,` said Hampton. `I’ve been blessed, and I’ve been dedicated. To play this game, you’ve got to be disciplined and dedicated to make it.`
Hampton’s playing career could be used as an example of how quickly a pro football player can go from Pro Bowl to retirement. Hampton rushed for more than 1,000 yards every season from 1991 to 1995, but an injury in 1997 and increased competition from Tiki Barber and Tyrone Wheatley for playing time ended Hampton’s career.
`Definitely, it’s been an honor to play with a hall of famer like Lawrence Taylor and (other) great guys,` said Hampton.
Youngblood ` an All-Pro defensive lineman with the Los Angeles Rams ` said today’s NFL players should always have some idea what they are going to do after their playing days are over.
`The first thing you have to do is you have to be smart with what you’re blessed with. You’re blessed to be able to play the game, and in today’s economic environment they’re well off. Be smart about that, first of all,` said Youngblood. `Then, look to the future, think about the future ` your career could be over in a heartbeat the next play, so you’re (going) only one play at a time. You have to have some thought process going from Day 1 as to what you’re going to do tomorrow in the event that something tragic happens.`
Youngblood not only gave his future some thought during his 14-year career, he worked toward it. During the off-season, he worked at Bank of America to prepare himself for a post-playing career in upper management.
`We had to work (in the off-season) back in my time,` he said. `You made time to do both. You had an off-season job, and you trained because your main job was to be an athlete.`
Youngblood’s days at Bank of America paid off. After retiring in 1985, he joined the Rams’ front office before taking a management position in the World League of American Football (now known as NFL Europe). He also owned and operated the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League for several years.
`It was a great experience,` Youngblood said of his days as a team owner. `Football organizations are football organizations, whether they’re in the arena league or in the NFL. The difference is the economics, and you have to learn the economics of the game. To see players have the opportunity to play and continue to play a game that they love was the reason I was in it.`
Sherwin also worked a variety of jobs during his eight-year playing career, including selling life insurance and working in a sheriff’s department.
`I wasn’t making tons of money (as a football player),` said Sherwin. `As a kid, I was making $40,000 in 1981 ` that was a lot of money. But these guys are millionaires when they come and sign their contracts. So, I knew I had to work for the rest of my life. My dream wasn’t being financially independent when I got out of the NFL. Now, that dream can be fulfilled if that’s your dream. My dream was just to play pro football and work like any other person the rest of my life.`
Today’s NFL superstars such as Terrell Owens and Michael Vick may not have to worry about doing anything like what Sherwin and Youngblood did to supplement their playing careers, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be prepared for the next phase of their lives.
`Football is short-lived. It’s something that you pass through,` said Sherwin. `After all the money and everything, it’s more than that. It’s actually community. When it’s all said and done, life is about helping other people. So, I would tell them to get involved with community as soon as they can. They do have a pedestal.
`And also support the retired players because right now the NFL is having some great success. There’s a lot of history around us, and the reason why they’re making so much is because players in this room actually went on strike for them to make that kind of money. These people right now, they’re still out traveling and stuff, and they’re not making the kind of money that they should be making being former NFL players.`
After all, in the NFL fraternity, bonds can never be broken.
`You always will (be connected) because you create such relationships both on and off the field ` especially in the locker room and in competition ` that when you come back to a function like this, it’s always fun to see guys you used to play against,` said Youngblood.
`The NFL is the greatest fraternity out there of any organization,` added Sherwin. The thing is when you’re playing, they’re your brothers, they’re your teammates ` so they’re all equals.“