After football, ?second? life begins for former player
January 29 2013 by Roman Gabriel, BR Sports Q&A
Chris Sanders knows all about competing in athletics at the highest level. As a standout three-year starter at wide receiver at The Ohio State University, and a member of the track and field team from 1992 to 1994, Sanders set the school record in the indoor long jump, a record that still stands today.
He was named the ?Ohio State Athlete of the Year,? across all sports in 1994. The Houston Oilers (who later became the Tennessee Titans) selected him in the third round of the 1995 NFL Draft. There, he played for seven years. In 1999, Sanders and the Titans made it all the way to Super Bowl XXXIV, losing to the Kurt Warner-led St. Louis Rams in one of the closest, most memorable games in Super Bowl history. Since his retirement from the NFL, Chris Sanders continues to use his platform as a Christian, husband, father, track and football coach at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville. In an interview, Sanders talked about life after football and mentoring the next generation of student athletes.
Q: What is it about coaching student athletes that inspires you?
A: The reason why I love to coach is that I?m not building a football player. I am building a young man, with my words and my encouragement. I?m teaching them how to be men and building a foundation into their lives. One thing I tell my players I coach is [that] football is going to end at some point, but your destiny is going to continue. That?s the reason I love to coach. You get to speak truth in these kids? lives and show them how they can become great like God created them to be.
Q: Many pro athletes retire, and they?re remembered only for what they accomplished in a relatively short time. How has God done an even greater work in your second life beyond the NFL?
The Coaches Channel photo
Chris Sanders uses his time in the NFL as a platform to reach the next generation of athletes.
A: When football [is] over and retirement happens, that life starts. Some NFL players retire and think that it?s all about looking at the sunset and blue skies. It can be rough retiring. You have to deal with beating down depression, self-image issues ? and all the stuff that comes along with being finished as an athlete. The good part is that we realize that Jesus is our foundation. Jesus is my foundation regardless [of] what?s going on in my life. I can stand. That?s what guys have to come to understand in the NFL. If you have a vision to play football ? you can have that vision taken away from you. And then what do you do? But if you have a vision to serve God, if you have a vision to seek His face, if you have a vision to do what He?s called you to do, that vision never stops.
Q: Being an Ohio State guy, you must be pumped up about new head coach Urban Meyer, who helped turn the Buckeye football program around. They were undefeated this year and finished third in the national rankings.
A: Urban (Meyer) has done a great job. I actually went to a game this year. He?s got the Buckeyes fired up, disciplined, and hungry. ? Coach Meyer has found a way to get these guys to come back and win. He teaches his kids to never give up. Even though the situation looks crazy, they found ways to pull games out.
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