Khalil Garriott
NFLPLAYERS.COM

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif.—Dressed in a crisp dress shirt and slacks, Roman Oben roams the room before taking his place at a table near the main entrance. It’s difficult to get his 6-foot-4, 305-pound frame into the small space between the table and the adjacent wall, but he manages. He is one of many former NFL players milling about the room on this afternoon.

Oben is one of dozens of retired NFL players benefiting from a career opportunity expo held as part of the NFLPA Retired Players Convention, in its 25th year. An event that provides retired members of the NFLPA with new career and business networking opportunities, it carries even more weight in this morbid economic climate. Players have come prepared and dressed in professional attire, with résumés and business cards in hand.

“Sometimes as an athlete you need to know where to fit in,” says Oben, who played 12 years in the NFL and now serves as Vice President of Development for the Northeast Region of The Corporate Playbook. “Not everyone wants to be a coach or a scout and there is nothing wrong with that, but some people want to take their skills and translate them into being successful in the business world.”

A total of eight companies covering a wide range of businesses, each with its own table containing literature, are represented at the career opportunity expo: The Corporate Playbook, Prudential, New York Life Insurance Company, NFL PLAYERS, Safeguard Benefits and Insurance Services, National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA), Fantappers and Locker 2 Locker. The number of ex-players entering the room to talk to company representatives about their expertise and career goals increases as the three-hour expo continues.

Malik Platts is an agent with New York Life, which he is quick to point out, is the only AAA-rated financial institution in the world. “We can help players. Those players can help other players,” he says during breaks of talking with interested players.

The companies represented at the career fair have an interest in hiring some of the former NFL players, who are in the Palm Springs area for day three of their annual convention, celebrating its silver anniversary this year. The traits which helped them become successful between the lines are the same ones which can help them thrive in the business world—integrity, perseverance, hard work and teamwork among them.

“I think it’s a great thing for former players, assuming they’re willing to work,” says Eszylfie Taylor, New York Life’s top African-American licensed agent in the country.

Taylor said that for players to get hired, they must be “special” and they must understand the marketplace.

“The sky is the limit if you can marry the two,” he says.

These ex-players have a specialized skill as former professional athletes, but many also have a variety of other skills which they hope can get them hired by a company of their choice. Oben carries a conversation with a few former players while standing next to a sign for his company’s table: “From the locker room to the board room.” Across the room, the NCSA, which matches college coaches with qualified student-athletes, is of particular interest to K.D. Dunn, who played for four NFL franchises during the 1980s.

Dunn is here because he is looking for different opportunities, especially in education. As a health and physical education teacher at Creekside High School near Atlanta, Dunn wants to share his expertise in football to youth through coaching.

“I’m still looking for educational aspects, and also to go into coaching,” Dunn says after exiting the career expo with plenty of paperwork in hand.

Reminiscing on his playing days, Dunn smiles as he describes the camaraderie and sense of family that brought his teams together.

“It took training, hard work and dedication to get where we were,” Dunn said. “I still have long-lasting relationships with my old teammates now.”

As company representatives answer players’ questions about their missions, backgrounds and futures, players gain insight on what type of candidate these companies are looking for. This year’s career opportunity expo, the 5th annual, also provides private space for on-the-spot job interviews.

“You’ve got guys who are recently retired like myself and … guys who have been out of football for 10 to 15 years and might have just been laid off,” Oben said. “Each career fair has [its] own intricacies and different nuances, and I think it’s a tremendous value if it’s the perfect fit for you.”

While these former NFL players explore potential new career paths, their businessmen brethren from the gridiron are glad to share their tips. But during a recession, not even the greatest of gridiron athletes are guaranteed to be offered a job.

“I look for people that like to ask a lot of questions and that are really interested and most importantly, I look for people that want to be more proactive in their lives after football,” says Oben, citing a zeal, energy and willingness to be successful as key indicators of a strong candidate. “There are not too many things in life than what you feel like when you’re about to play the Dallas Cowboys, but you can take the same approach, attention to small details and preparation to make you more successful in life than anything you could’ve done on the field.”