Forty former National Football League (NFL) players were on campus over the weekend for the NFL Career Transition Program seminar hosted at the Graduate School of Business (GSB).
According to the NFL, the program “educates players in transition about the resources and opportunities available to them in their advancement to second careers” after football.
Condoleezza Rice, professor of political science and high-profile NFL fan, was the program’s opening night keynote speaker.
“The NFL’s Career Transition Program provides athletes with the tools to transition from the playing field to the boardroom and beyond,” Rice said in a statement. “As an educator, I look forward to working with the NFL to help these players find their footing in their new careers so they can have a lasting impact in their communities.”
The program, free for players, will encompass academic topics, communications, personal branding and personality test workshops. Representatives from LinkedIn, the Silicon Valley professional networking company, helped players set up LinkedIn pages and build professional networks on Oct. 29, the final day of the program.
According to a statement on the Career Transition Program site, players only had to cover the cost of travelling to and from Stanford; the NFL covered the remaining expenses.
This was Stanford’s first time hosting the NFL Career Transition Program. Four previous seminars were held at Georgia Tech and one was held at Rice University.
Since 2006, Stanford’s Graduate School of Business has also worked with the NFL Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program, which provides executive education to current and former NFL players.