NFL Ambassador Matt Stover hopes to educate young players about financial responsibility.
By Aaron Wilson
Baltimore Sun
September 6, 2012
When Matt Stover first joined the Cleveland Browns in 1991, he didn't regard football as his permanent vocation.
"It wasn't a means to an end for me," Stover said in a telephone interview.
So, Stover, 44, spent his first three years with the Browns interning during the offseason at International Management Group preparing for the day he would stop kicking a pigskin for a living.
"The reason why was I didn't know if I was going to have some kind of career," Stover said. "My decision was to try to better myself."
Today, the retired Ravens Pro Bowl kicker is working as an NFL ambassador for the league's office of player engagement.
He travels around the country, talking to college players about the need to plan for life after football and learning how to become financially responsible.
"I'm telling them to utilize the resources you presently have in college and to make the best of your situation," Stover said. "Even if you do make it to the NFL, please approach it as a quick start in life. When you're done, even if you play 10 years in the NFL at best, you still have 40 years left in your life. That's a long time to make your cash work for you. You really have to manage it well. I don't care how much money you make whether you're a Drew Brees or a lowly free agent punter."
A former player union representative for 16 years, Stover said he also believes the NFL is being proactive now about addressing health concerns, including research and safety measures involving concussions.