The Daily Pennsylvanian
The Wharton School is yet again teaching NFL players how to do more than throw a football after a successful first year.
The Wharton Sports Business Initiative and Wharton Executive Education Programs are teaming up for the second time to offer a business-management program for professional football players.
But this spring, Wharton professors will play personal trainer for three additional days.
The players, who arrived on campus Sunday night, will be studying at Wharton until Wednesday and will return for another three-day seminar April 3.
And while the NFL was wary of the program's potential -- league officials predicted 25 players would sign up -- the list of attendees boasts 35 athletes and retired players. Among them are New York Giants wide receiver Amani Toomer and Philadelphia Eagles punter Dirk Johnson.
According to program Director Kenneth Shropshire, the initiative is designed to "assist players in focusing on transitioning out of playing the game [and] thinking about the businesses ... that they'll do when they finish playing."
The first part of the program will include workshops and classes on topics ranging from entrepreneurial ventures and financial management to negotiations and contract evaluations.
After spending a month on finance and real estate projects, the players will come back to Wharton for follow-up sessions.
This second seminar is the program's newest component, added in response to feedback from last year's 36 participants, who requested additional time for review and evaluative discussions.
The later section in April will also feature individual coaching sessions with Wharton professors and a review of each player's overall progress.
With last year's successful venture under their belt, Wharton officials are confident about the outcome of this year's seminars.
"We're doing what we did and doing it better," Shropshire said.
Organizers say that most players appreciate the program and believe it gives them much needed skills in spotting profitable investments and detecting industry scams.
Football players -- who earn, on average, more than $1 million per year -- typically enjoy a career of 3.5 years. They usually don't have time to go back to school, however, because after they finish their careers they are already in their mid-30s, said Legal Studies professor Morvarid Taheripour, who will be teaching the players.
The players "choose these types of programs ... to make that money last," Taheripour said.
Real Estate professors Peter Linneman and Georgette Poindexter, Finance professor Jeremy Siegel and Management professor Paul Tiffany will also be conducting workshops throughout the seminar.
"There is a lot of value in being able to offer condensed programs that speak specifically to some of the challenges that players face," said Dawn Straw, associate director of Wharton Executive Education.
And some players said that they had gained so much from last year's program they are coming back for more.
Hardy Nickerson, formerly of the Green Bay Packers, will open the session by speaking about his experience with the program last year.
The NFL takes a hands-off approach to the process, merely putting out information about these types of programs and allowing players to sign up on a first-come first-serve basis.
Despite Wharton's eagerness to help the players, the program isn't provided free of charge.
Though the school doesn't determine the player's tuition -- which is decided by the NFL -- it has a contract with the league that includes the expectation that players attend both the February and April programs, as well as work on their assigned projects in between the two seminars.
"Other than the notoriety of the people involved, [the program] is relatively small compared to a world-wide company," Shropshire said.
Similar sports business programs are also being conducted at Harvard Business School, Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
