University of Colorado Athletics
Woelk: Buffs Get Lesson In Life Off The Field
August 20, 2015 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — College football players are familiar with statistics. Depending upon their position, most can quickly tell you how many yards-catches-sacks-receptions-interceptions they had last week, last year and even before that.
No surprise there.
But earlier this week, the Colorado Buffaloes were introduced to some unfamiliar statistics, numbers that were uncomfortable but relevant to every player in the room. Statistics such as:
— According to the most recent NCAA figures, there are about 15,500 seniors playing college football every year in the United States. Only 254 — about 1.6 percent — are drafted into the National Football League, with about 300 total earning a roster spot..
— According to the NFL Players Association, the average career of a player who actually makes an NFL roster is slightly more than 3 years. Thus, a player who survives those odds and makes a team can still expect to be finished making a living playing football by the time he's 25 or 26 years old.
— Players with a college degree play longer and earn higher average salaries in the NFL than those without a degree.
Those aren't numbers designed to make college football players smile. Rather, they're numbers whose purpose is to make college players sit up and take notice — and then take advantage of the educational opportunities they have.
“Those numbers made you listen,” said Buff nose tackle Justin Solis. “It definitely resonated. I know a lot of us don't take the time to think about some of that stuff. It makes you think about the future.”
The man delivering those statistics to the Buffs spoke from a position of experience and authority. Chris Draft, a 13-year NFL veteran, played linebacker for six teams in the league. A sixth-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears in 1998, he arrived in the league with a Stanford degree in economics in hand.
Now, he works as an ambassador for the NFL's Player Engagement program. He speaks to both NFL and college players about almost everything — except football.
“If someone's talking to you only about football, they're not talking to you about your life,” Draft told the Buffs. “Our goal is to help make you great in life.”
Draft spoke frankly with the Buffs about a variety of topics. Character development, education, self-discipline and core values were high on the list.
And throughout the course of the discussion, he reminded players that the name on the back of their jerseys was stitched onto a nameplate — designed to be removed.
“You just want them coming out of there thinking about some of those things,” Draft said after he had finished. “You want them thinking about being the driver in their lives, not the passenger. You want them thinking about their actions — and they need to know that one careless action can ruin it all.
“If you want success, you surround yourself with success.”
Draft repeatedly stressed academics and the opportunity to obtain a degree. Too many players, he said, leave college without a degree in hand. One reason, he said, is because those players listened to people around them who told them they wouldn't need a degree, that they were destined for long NFL careers.
“Anybody who encourages you not to pursue your academics does not care about your future,” Draft said. “That doesn't mean they are bad people. But if they're telling you not to worry about your academics, they do not care about your future.”
Draft also touched on the incredible growth of social media. Today, he noted, virtually everything a player does anywhere in public has the possibility of being documented and shared to millions of people almost instantaneously.
“You remind them to be authentic in all parts of their lives,” Draft said. “Who they are always comes out, sooner or later. If they have the right core values, they have a better chance of succeeding. It's just that simple.”
CU wide receivers coach Troy Walters played with Draft at Stanford. Walters and CU Director of Player Development Darian Hagan helped bring Draft to CU to talk to the Buffs.
“We talk to the players a lot about the same type of things — but coaches are like parents sometimes,” Walters said. “They start to tune us out.
“If you bring someone in from the outside, someone who's lived it, it's a new voice — and they listen.”
The Buffs listened. As Draft progressed through his 45-minute delivery, players around the room sat up, took notice and participated when Draft asked questions.
“A lot of us in there think this is going to last forever,” Solis said. “We've all been playing football just about our whole lives. But the reality is, it's going to be gone soon — and we need to start thinking about it.”
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
