We welcome the Manager for Player Engagement and player programs with the NFL, Darrel Young to the show today who has a story of inspiration to share with us. A competitor that has experienced the best and most difficult parts of the professional game, Darrel was a football player within the NFL for many years before heading to the league office to a pursue a career he has been preparing for his entire life
Darrel is a natural leader who is incredibly comfortable in his vision for the role he can have on this generation’s players within the NFL when it comes to preparing them for life after the game. His desire to form connections and be of service to each and every player makes him a unique and special commodity for the players to rely on, and we learn so much about his journey and skills within our discussion.
We open up our discussion by learning all about Darrel’s current role with the NFL (5:15) as he explains his relationship to the organization, along with the players within it. Darrel then tells us all about his background in the sport of football (7:00), the highs and lows of his professional career, and his willingness to do what the team needed him to. Once we get into the deeper parts of the discussion we learn when Darrel first realized he had these transferable skills from football that could be used away from the game (11:35) and when he knew it was time to move on and establish the career he wanted. Furthermore, we hear about the value Darrel places on making himself available to the players within the NFL (17:10) so that they have the access to him in order to be able to plan for the future. Finally, we discuss some of the ways Darrel is both earning and proving his worth within his role based on his achievements and the qualifications he is currently pursuing (21:00), as well as how he approaches communicating with this generation of NFL players today (25:00). Steve wraps up the interview with his Career Competitor “Keys to Success” (32:20)
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