Hanging it up after football? Not these guys

By STEPHEN F. HOLDER
Published November 20, 2005

Football player can be a fleeting profession. Competition, injuries and age conspire to shorten a career and increase the need for something to sustain players when the good times end.

The key? Having a plan. Bucs receiver Ike Hilliard has one - or two - or three.

"If you don't have a plan," the real-estate-tycoon-to-be said, "you're going to end up getting bit in the butt."

Hilliard and wife Lourdes are developing homes through their Miami-based company, Promenade Group. Also, Lourdes - a Miami native with an MBA and a law degree - is preparing to open a women's clothing boutique in South Florida in the coming months.

Hilliard, meanwhile, has toyed with the idea of attending culinary school after football for use in a potential restaurant venture. That is if his efforts to become the next Donald Trump don't get in the way. Already, Promenade Group has built and sold five houses, with more to come soon.

As much as the ninth-year player out of Floirda loves football, he finds his off-field ventures just as intriguing. He doesn't see himself as another Jerry Rice, pursuing the game into his 40s. If it all ended tomorrow, Hilliard would be fine because that would give him the chance to delve deeper into his entrepreneurship.

"I've been blessed enough and made good money and invested it well," said Hilliard, 29. "I'm not going to do that, moving all over the country to play football. My life is pretty good, so I want to move forward with the development firm and (Lourdes) wants to move forward with the boutique. I see a lot of potential."

Hilliard's plan is just one of many a player can follow after his football career. Safety Jermaine Phillips wants to become a high school physical education teacher and coach. It's his way of positioning himself to give back.

"I have a passion for kids, and at that age they can still be reached," the fourth-year veteran out of Georgia said. "I had different people in my life who played a part in keeping me on the straight and narrow. I really think it's important. It's like the movie Pay It Forward. When somebody helps you and you've been blessed to help others, that's what you should do."

When it comes to linebacker Derrick Brooks, the hardest part will be narrowing his list of interests.

He hasn't ruled out coaching. But the governor-appointed FSU trustee and member of the Florida Department of Education Foundation also could see himself in politics. After all, who would want to run against the Pensacola-born Brooks? He also is deeply involved in charity work (derrickbrookscharities.org) and has an eye on broadcasting.

"I've always been planning for life after football because you never know when it's all going to be over and when your last snap is going to be," said Brooks, 32, who has a bachelor of arts degree in business communications and a masters in the same subject, graduating again from FSU in 1999.

"But the problem is I'm passionate about a lot of things. I just want to make a difference whether it's working with kids, football, athletics or business. I'm going to do it with all I've got."

These and other Bucs have taken to heart a message that has long been preached by the players' union, which has a career transition program that helps match them with potential postfootball careers. Even after a long football career, players are relatively young and have many years ahead of them.

"You might have enough money to hang it up and do nothing, but that's the best-case scenario," Phillips said. "So, that being said, what's going to be your course of action?"

Apparently, pretty much anything.

[Last modified November 20, 2005, 00:54:20]