When people discuss the transition of football players from college to the NFL, the majority of the conversation revolves around acclimating to the speed of the game. However, the reality is that the speed of life changes dramatically for these players as well. It’s an entirely different life, going from the life of a college student-athlete to a professional athlete.
When Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin made an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show Thursday, one of the topics discussed was how Tomlin approaches talking with the rookies about life outside of football. Tomlin talked about how he wants the rookies to understand how to take care of themselves physically with nutrition, how to interact with fans on social media and the community at large, how to handle their money, and even have former players like Clinton Portis come and talk to the incoming rookies.