Moving from being an NFL player to a post-NFL career can be a difficult transition. Mike Morton has made the transition look easy as he went from linebacker to a dentist with a successful private practice, but there was a lot of hard work involved.
Morton played for seven years in the NFL, four with the Oakland Raiders and then a few years with the Rams, Packers and Colts. He had a back injury in the middle of his career that required surgery and cut his career short. So at age 29, it was time to look for a new career.
Morton’s injury helped him to realize what was important to him in the next chapter of his life. “After that injury, I never got cut,” Morton said, “but somebody else always determined whether or not I had a job. I think that’s what I really wanted to avoid.”
He spoke with his wife and he finally settled on dental school. Morton recalls, “I wanted to go back, get my degree, get a doctorate, and have more self-determination in my career.”
By why choose dentistry? When asked about his mentors in the NFL, rather than other players or coaches, Morton actually cites the team medical staff. He was planning to go to medical school as an undergrad, and naturally gravitated towards talking with the medical staff. They encouraged him to look at dental school. As he investigated it further, and talked it over with his wife, he finally decided that it was the right path for him.
But it wasn’t an easy decision, or an easy path to take. Going through dental school was a major commitment of both time and resources. “Once you commit to dental school, that’s hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt,” Morton said. “Once you’re in, you’re in. There’s no turning back.”
Some of the same traits that made him successful on the football field have served him well in making the transition. “Football is working every day, studying, practicing to be as good as you can be,” Morton said. That same work ethic helped to make him successful both through dental school and now in his private practice.
After graduation, he went back to his home town of Kannapolis, NC, and opened a dental practice. The practice is small but successful. In addition to their regular patients, they also do a lot of work with military families and a lot of charity work.
“I do a lot of good Samaritan stuff,” Morton explains, as he provides free dental care to families in need, no strings attached.
The charitable component of his practice is a big motivator for him. “When you take somebody that’s struggling and they need a break, and you can give them a hand and do something good for them without any return expected, it’s awesome,” Morton explains. “That’s probably what I enjoy most about what I’m doing now.”
The dental practice has given him a great deal of control over his own path, so he no longer has his career hanging on someone else’s decisions. It’s also given him a great deal of control over his own hours, as he determines when the practice is open and when it isn’t. He finally has the control over his career that he’s always wanted.
And what does he do with his spare time? Apart from spending it with his family (they have an older child plus a set of four-year-old quadruplets), he’s found a way to get back out on the football field.
When he finished dental school, he went through a class to become a football official and promptly gave up golf in favor of officiating. “It’s probably one of the best things that I’ve gotten into.”
He has been working as a part time official for four years now. This year, he has made it to the college ranks after a few years officiating at the high school level. He hopes to make it to the NFL again, but this time as a ref.
By getting involved in officiating, he felt like he was part of a team again. “You’re on the field, you’re putting on a uniform,” he explains. “You’re seeing kids just knock the crap out of each other, high-fiving each other. It’s just really cool to be a part of it.”
“It’s been very, very therapeutic. It’s allowed me to stay around the game.”
Looking back, I had to ask if he wishes he’d done anything different during his playing days. His only regret was that he didn’t stop more often to savor the time. He said, “I wish I had just enjoyed the opportunity and the blessing of doing something I love and that people love watching you do it, and that you get paid for.”
“I look back, and I wish I’d had more fun at it.”
By moving into a post-NFL career that gives him the freedom to control his own destiny, while officiating part time to stay in touch with the game that he loves, Morton seems to have found an ideal balance
