When the Cheering Stops: Life After the NFL

The late former Tampa Bay Buccaneers executive Culverhouse (Throwaway Players) delivers a stirring and disturbing account of the lengths the NFL has gone to deny retired players support, a task she forewarns is “not a happy story, but it’s a story that needs to be told.” She asserts that “the path from exultation... to the poverty that follows is a quick three-year trip for some players,” and shares stories of the hardships some have endured once their time on the field is over. She writes of former players who are now homeless and showering in truck stops, and those battling depression, which she calls ex-players’ “number one disability.” Elsewhere, she details startling accounts of how poorly the NFL prepares players for life after the game—noting, for instance, that while the league offers a financial literacy course, it also charges players as much as $5,000 to attend—and recounts a class action lawsuit (the “roots” of which began around 2011) against the league regarding the long-term effects of concussions, “the NFL’s biggest existential crisis.” Throughout, Culverhouse comes across as a fierce advocate for ex-players, who she tirelessly championed until her death from cancer in July 2020. This should be necessary reading for football fans. (Aug.)