Preloading

The Identity Crisis Athletes Face When Leaving Professional Sports

Season 1 Episode 104
Aired on 03/01/2015 | CC tv-14
Quarterback Vince Young was a college football superstar with a promising NFL career. In 2006, the Tennessee Titans drafted him in the first round. After the team released him in 2011, Vince was signed and released by four more teams before retiring in June 2014. Losing his identity as an athlete before the age of 30 hit Vince hard, and filmmaker Jonas Elrod is following him on his journey to build a life outside of professional football.

Jonas turns to motivational speaker and former NBA player Walter Bond to get a sense of what Vince is going through. "Transitioning out of sports is tough for anybody. Your whole life is sold out to the sport, and then one day it's taken away," Walter says in the video above. "Now you've got to figure out the next plan, and you haven't had time to make a plan because it takes such a commitment to play pro sports. But I can identify with the Vince Youngs who might be struggling to make that transition."

More from this episode