By JOHN INGOLDSBY
Engagement Insider
MIAMI, FL – College football can be fleeting, and South Florida high school players heard exactly how during an NCAA Leadership Development session at the NFL PREP 100 Series Presented by Under Armour and the National Guard.
Held in early April at the Miami Dolphins training facility, the record number of 140 student-athletes started their day at a nearby hotel with classroom breakouts on various topics, including the NCAA gathering.
But before getting into the nuts and bolts of the NCAA from Assistant Director of Leadership Development Justin Paysinger, the group was treated to a talk by Mark Collins, a 13-year veteran who was on two Super Bowl-winning teams.
“Never take the college degree for granted,” implored the California State-Fullerton graduate, adding that “recruits must have a plan and should choose about 20 schools to consider attending at the beginning of the process.”
“This process should be fun, and the young men should be totally engaged in the process,” emphasized Collins.
Then it was time for Paysinger to preach about how important academics are, recalling that football was taken away from him when he broke his spinal cord during a team walk-through at San Jose State, where he was a center and a projected second-round NFL pick.
In making it clear that what happened to him can also happen to them, the Los Angeles native noted that the NCAA and its’ schools stand ready to help.
“The first stop for any aspiring college athlete is the NCAA eligibility center, where the player is deemed academically ready resulting from the parent and high school having worked together,” stated Paysinger.
Once enrolled, Paysinger said that the schools specifically work with students to prepare them for life after college, mentioning that “the student-athlete has to actively try to fail given the resources available to them”
Additionally, Paysinger promoted the values of honesty and integrity as being paramount in the players’ brand, which he said can be largely shaped these days by the profiles they establish on social media, which he warned are tracked by the colleges.
He left the student-athletes with the six pillars of life skills, which he termed as personal development, professional development, leadership development, diversity & inclusion education, community education, and wellness.
And as further food for thought, Paysinger said the players need to ask themselves “Who am I outside of football?,” mindful that if the day comes when football is no longer part of their life – like what happened to him – then they need to have a resume, know how to network, and ultimately compete for a job.