New NFL Training Camp Preps Players for Careers in Broadcasting

How do you
make a 300-pound NFL lineman nervous? Ask him to trade his shoulder pads for a
tie, put him behind an anchor’s desk and tell him he’s on the air.

Welcome to
a different kind of NFL training camp: Boot camp for players who want to become
broadcasters after their playing days end.

For men
whose lives have revolved around physical gifts and skills they have honed
since boyhood — in some cases, they’ve have never had to apply for a job — the
camp represents a taste of the real world, possibly a hint of things to come.

“As a football player, you believe in
yourself,” said Tim Hasselbeck, a backup quarterback for the New York
Giants. “You think you’re qualified to be doing what you’re doing.”

Boston Herald