Once the cheering stops: The life of a retired pro-athlete

Like the saying goes, "everything that goes up must come down". These star athletes live somewhat of a fast life with the risk of the sport along with all the privileges and "freebies" they get. Ever since high school they are admired and that only increases in college. Once they are drafted all of America knows who they are. 

During their entire career they are taken are of, they basically have no worries, because even if something goes wrong, they have someone else who can fix their problems. Their only worry is practice, playing, and winning the game. They all do enjoy the fame, glory, and money, but at some point it all has to end. 

After they leave the big leagues and go on to being "normal people" they do not always know how to cope. They suddenly go from everything being done for them to them now having to do real life things. On top of that some athletes are permanently scarred and injured from their football days. Not only are they physically broke, but they can be financially broke too. They go from spending like crazy to sometimes not having such a successful job and having to manage their money, which some do not know how to do. 

This can be a prime example of our culture and how the structure is set up. When a person is famous and making money, they are greatly esteemed and talked about - once that is gone, no one cares. The retired players are not given attention anymore unless they kept making big money by going into a business, like Mr. Michael Jordan, they did something "criminal-like", and/or are dead. Does that sound familiar? 

It is sad how some of the players end up. Some are paralyzed, some attempt suicide, and some just flat out do not know what they are going to do with their life. For this, I feel that there should be taken time to teach these players better life and money management skills. They need valuable lessons aside from being on the field and memorizing plays. Some players grow to be too sheltered and once exposed to the real world they are lost. They have got to stop being so babied while they are in sports.