A 21 Year Old Looking For A Job In Sports (Football)
I’m 21 years old, and a student at a community college. I’m a General Studies in Health & Physical Education major. I want to transfer to a university, and get into the exercise science program. I want a job that works with (American) football players. I wanted to play football in high school. When I transfer to a a university, I want to transfer to a division 3 college and try out for football.
What are some careers that specialize in working with football players? I was thinking about becoming an athletic trainer, but I want to specialize in working with football players.
Hello, thanks for asking. What a great field to get involved in!
The NFL typically has quite a few internship programs. You could check at the University you’re enrolling in as well as online. While most, if not all, of these positions probably wouldn’t be in dealing with the players themselves, this could get you in the door. That’s always the first step and where we all must first start out.
From there, you can get a feel for what you’d really like to do. There are sports agents (think Jerry McGuire). These are people who negotiate employment and endorsement deals for a particular player. Sports agent typically earn a commission or percentage of the football player’s contract. Not bad!
For this, you’d need to be well versed in public relations, marketing, and finance.
A lot of sports agents are also lawyers in contractual law. So law school could very well be in your future and your niche’ would be in football.
Working intern positions or taking small piddly roles at first is what will help you get your foot in the door here in the bigger role.
You could also consider a career in sports medicine. How about physical therapy?
Educational requirements for a doctor in sports medicine are fairly hefty but typically a sports doctor would need to be an M.D. and a specialized residency. At the minimum a sports doctor requires a degree from an accredited academic institution, state certification, and state license.
Good luck and let us know what you decide!
The Captain
