How do NFL players earn a living when their playing careers end? Without a proper education, their options are limited. That's why players like New England's Mike Vrabel are focused on getting fellow athletes to hit the books...even while they're still playing in the NFL.
The Patriots linebacker and NFL Players Association rep is in Maui this week for the NFLPA's annual meeting. Before he left for Hawaii, Vrabel sat down with The Boston Globe to preview his agenda.
"Certainly, we all make the choice to play this game and enjoy the way we're compensated, and we love playing football, but we have to look at what we're going to do after football," Vrabel says in the article. "I think we need to look at what type of education we're giving these guys before [retirement]."
The piece also contains a touching story about wide receiver Troy Brown and his devotion to a sick young boy.
Meanwhile, many fans know Myra Kraft as the wife of the Patriots owner. But she has quite a fulfilling career of her own, as the Globe Magazine reveals in a wonderful feature from Sunday's issue. Her philanthropic endeavors are the highlight of the article.
"It's easy to write a check," she says. "But this is what I look at as what my occupation is...It's really caring for your fellow man, if you have the ability to do it. My feeling, and Robert's too, is if you’re fortunate enough to have acquired wealth, then it’s an obligation on you to give back."
As for on-field news, everyone's looking ahead to the NFL Draft, including the MetroWest Daily News, which ran a piece this weekend on what the Patriots have done so far this offseason, as well as who New England is working out prior to the Draft.
