Former Jaguars Lineman, NFL Connecting Players With Companies in Life After Football

Will Rackley entered the league as the Jaguars' third-round draft pick. Now, he's a valuable contributor for a major staffing-solutions company

July 27, 2012; Jacksonville FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars guard/center Will Rackley (65) during the first afternoon of training camp practice at Florida Blue Health & Wellness Practice Fields. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-Imagn Images | Phil Sears-Imagn Images

During his playing days, former Jaguars lineman Will Rackley was 6-foot-3 and 306 pounds. So, when he recently joined global talent solutions firm Atrium, he wasn’t the average business operations analyst.

But thanks to his three seasons in the NFL, he’s certainly prepared for anything the corporate world can send in his direction. That’s why Rackley and other former NFL players are coveted job candidates among some of the country’s leading corporations.

“It can be a culture shock when stepping into a corporate setting, as opposed to how things are done in a locker room,” Rackley told Callum Borchers last week in a Wall Street Journal feature.

And as more and more corporate managers search for employees who can withstand difficult feedback, they know NFL players have the thickest skin. Rackley is 75 pounds lighter than his last game with the Jaguars in 2013. But thanks to his football coaches in Jacksonville, Lehigh University and Riverdale (Ga.) High School, he’s battle tested in the constructive-criticism category.

Last week in New Orleans, the NFL sponsored a career fair that connected more than 30 companies with current and former NFL players like Rackley. One of those companies, Verizon, compares former NFL players to military veterans because both groups tend to include hires with strong attention to detail and tireless work ethic.

Now 35, Rackley told Borchers his superiors at Atrium his managers can “shoot straight with me.” In turn, Rackley’s managers said not only does Rackley have thicker skin than most, he also shows more enthusiasm and coachability than most employees.

And just as he did for the Jaguars when the team installed its game plans during the week, Rackley asks important questions as part of his role with Atrium.

For every player around the league like Maurice Jones-Drew who enters a media role after his playing career, there are dozens of former players like Rackley, whose careers were cut short by injury or other circumstances, who didn’t have the opportunity to earn substantial salaries with second NFL contracts. But there is life after football after all, and Rackley is a shining example.

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