Fordham NFL Prospect Doubles As Doctor-In-Training
Fordham University football player Garrick Mayweather is looking beyond his upcoming college graduation to hopes of having a career as an NFL player as well as a doctor.
“I was a pre-med student at Fordham, actually I’m finishing up, this May my graduation is on the 21. I’ve always wanted to be a doctor, I want to go into orthopedics. So I want to go to medical school eventually and possibly be a team doctor and just stay around the sport [football],” Mayweather told the FOX Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo.
But Mayweather’s plans for medical school will hopefully be sidelined temporarily by his potential NFL career.
“In the last few years I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to actually elongate my football career as well. I’ve been picking up steam in the last two years on the football field playing pretty well. I’ll probably be on an NFL roster hopefully this time next year,” said Mayweather.
Mayweather then weighed in on the challenges of the transition from college football to the NFL and if it is important to be an early first-round draft pick.
“I don’t think it is so important.” Mayweather continued, “it’s tough going through the process because no one who’s gone through it has any experience. So he’s [agent Shane Costa] basically been telling me ‘the work isn’t done on draft day. It’s done after draft day.’ Before, leading up to and after draft day you still have to make the team, you still have to put in the work to make that transition.”
On whether medical school or the NFL Draft process is more nerve-racking, Mayweather said, “The process isn’t so nerve-racking; My personality is kind of I take things as they come. I don’t really like stressing out over things that I feel that don’t need to be stressed about as much. I’m working as hard as I can.”
Suffering one concussion already, Mayweather weighed in on efforts to reduce the risks of concussion and the concept of using leather helmets.
“I definitely think myself, along with almost any other football player would be much more cautious playing the game, be a lot slower without that barrier of protection that is your helmet. But it’s a lot about technique; Playing with good technique eliminates a lot of those things,” Mayweather said.
Mayweather says they are working on those techniques at an earlier age now.
“They’re picking up technique in youth football. Youth football coaches actually have to get certified and trained through an organization to be able to teach these young kids to play football.”