Old School Football Players: Where Are They Now? 0
Ronnie Lott
Some football stars never leave the sport. After concluding his Hall of Fame playing career as a tight end, Mike Ditka became a Super Bowl-winning coach and then transitioned into the media world as analyst after he put down the clipboard.
Others follow a different path and disappear from the public eye. When they do, it’s easy to lose track of their whereabouts. But many of those who have seemingly fell off the face of the earth are now living truly fascinating lives.
From Silicon Valley and the big screen to entrepreneurship and the courtroom, the following four football players are worth catching up with even decades after they took off their cleats.
Ronnie Lott
Ronnie Lott was a hard-hitting safety known for striking fear into receivers who dared cross the middle of the field and quarterbacks that he blindsided sprinting across the line on a blitz. The Hall of Famer, four-time Super Bowl champion, and 10-time Pro Bowler for the San Francisco 49ers then made a very successful transition to the business world, leveraging investments in a few car dealerships into larger ventures and roles in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley with firms including HRJ Capital, GSV Capital Corp., and Fortress Investment Group. “He’s been a winner on and off the field and accordingly has earned enormous respect in Silicon Valley,” said GSV in a statement after the venture capital firm added Lott to its board of directors in 2015.
Carl Weathers
Though many people only know him as Apollo Creed and other prominent Hollywood roles on the silver screen, actor Carl Weathers first reached stardom as a football player. As a defensive end, he played college ball in Southern California for the San Diego State University Aztecs before going on to play in eight NFL games from 1970 to 1971. He didn’t quite have what it took, however, and made the tough choice to abandon his dream and switch to acting — a decision that now looks genius in hindsight. After earning a degree in drama in 1974, he gained global fame through his iconic performances in the “Rocky” franchise and would go on to earn acclaim for his work in “Predator,” “Action Jackson,” “Happy Gilmore,” and “Arrested Development,” among other films and television shows. Read the rest of this entry →
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