Key result
Career transition plans aid ~48% of professional football transitions, whereas structural and identity factors hinder progress.
Why the study?
Transition from professional football has important implications for former NFL players' health and well-being, but their transition experiences and associated factors were not fully examined.
Cross-Sectional (n=1,784)
Career transition plans and social support are key facilitators, while loss of structure and identity are primary barriers for former NFL players transitioning out of sport.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Transition support programs merit evaluation for retiring athletes; leaves open whether targeting structure and identity improves outcomes in prospective studies.
Transition from professional football life has important implications for the health and well-being of former National Football League (NFL) players. The study purpose was to examine former NFL players’ experiences of transitioning from sport including factors that helped and factors that made transition difficult. This study used a convenience sample of former NFL players drawn from a larger study of health and function. Participants included 1,784 former NFL players, mean age = 52.3 ± 16.3 years, 59% White, and a discontinuation mean of 24.0 ± 15.6 years after leaving the league. Participants responded to open-ended transition questions via mail or electronic questionnaire with responses analyzed using conceptual content analysis. The most frequently reported factors that helped transition included career transition plan/options (48%) and social support (40%). Whereas, structure- (33%) and identity-related (23%) difficulties were reported as factors that made transition difficult. Findings identify areas for targeted interventions to enhance NFL player well-being during transition from sport.
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DeFreese et al. (2023) conducted a cross-sectional in Transition from professional football (n=1,784). Transitioning from professional football was aided by career transition plans (48%) and social support (40%), whereas structure- (33%) and identity-related (23%) factors made transition difficult.
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