As much as the the lockout was an unpleasant experience that none of us want to repeat, it did provide an opportunity for players to focus on life after football.
This week, former All-Pro punter Ray Guy, under orders from a bankruptcy judge, auctioned off three Super Bowl rings he won with the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders, according to The Augusta Chronicle.
In July the NFL Players Association sponsored the Business of Football: Rookie Edition to help educate the new draftees on how to move from college life to the professional world and remind them to prepare for life after football starting day one.
Unfortunately, treating football as a business hasn’t always been part of the players’ focus and because of that, many players have suffered hardships, foreseen and unforeseen.
We can’t imagine that bankruptcy is a situation that Guy every imagined and certainly understand his response when the Chronicle asked him about it. “I don’t want to talk about it. I’m not trying to be hateful, but sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
The rings where mementos from the Raiders’ Super Bowl victories in 1977, 1981 and 1984. While they fetched $96,216 at a Los Angeles-based auction house Tuesday night its more of a memory verses money issue.
Guy was drafted by the Raiders in the first round of the 1973 draft. The Georgia native was named to the Pro Bowl seven times in 14 NFL seasons, all as a member of the Raiders. He was named to the NFL’s 75th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1994.
The former Southern Mississippi standout took a job with his alma mater in 2007, managing and directing the daily operations of the athletic department’s alumni association, according to The Chronicle.
Here’s wishing Guy well and hoping that he lands on his feet after the bk process and that other players remember that planning for life after football starts the day they step on the field.
