Why Retired NFL Stars Are Choosing Nursing

D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Patrick Hill spent years trading hits on Sundays. Today, they’re trading playbooks for patient charts—part of a small but growing cohort of former NFL players building second careers in nursing.

While most retirees gravitate toward broadcasting, coaching, real estate, teaching, financial literacy, or law enforcement, nursing is emerging as a new lane. Hard numbers are scarce, but at least a handful of current and former players have publicly committed to the profession during or after their playing days. “Nursing is a newer area,” said Tracy Perlman, the NFL’s senior vice president of player operations, in comments to The New York Times.

Ferguson, 41, the longtime New York Jets left tackle, earned his nursing degree this spring from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and now works at RWJBarnabas Health in New Jersey—continuing a family tradition set by his mother and grandmother. Hill, 37, a former Tennessee Titans fullback and running back, serves as an inpatient psychiatric nurse at UCLA Medical Center and has rotated through several intensive care units.

Both men say the sport prepared them for the demands of the job. Hill points to the “mental toughness and resiliency” forged in football, drawing a direct line from the two-minute drill to urgent moments at the bedside. “Two minutes of CPR is the longest two minutes you’ll probably ever do,” he said, describing the “intense, hyper-focused” mindset that mirrors the endgame pressure of an NFL quarter.

The pipeline isn’t limited to retirees. Kansas City Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, 26, comes from a nursing family and was inspired by watching his mother care for his younger sister, Maddee, who has congenital muscular dystrophy. He is balancing the practice squad with coursework and expects to complete a bachelor’s in nursing next summer.

Jacksonville Jaguars wideout Chandler Brayboy, 24, earned his nursing degree last year while on an NFL roster. His interest began in high school after a health science class on Parkinson’s disease helped him recognize a “pill-rolling” tremor in his grandfather and push for a diagnosis. Brayboy plans to move into critical care once his playing career ends.

That specialization aligns with broader patterns in the profession. A 2024 NurseJournal report found male nurses often gravitate to high-acuity areas such as emergency and critical care, roles that demand adaptability, stamina, and rapid problem-solving.

The share of men in nursing—long stuck near 13% of registered nurses—has inched up over the past decade, rising about 8% and chipping away at enduring stereotypes. “This is awesome for boys to see,” said Dr. Jason Mott, president of the American Association for Men in Nursing and a professor at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

For some, nursing is a gateway to even more advanced practice. Nathaniel Hughes, 40, who had stints with the Jaguars and Detroit Lions, earned his BSN in 2008 before he was drafted and completed a master’s in nursing in 2015 while still playing. After seven years at the bedside, he entered medical school and is now an anesthesiologist—though he admits the football identity can be hard to shed. “People can pick up real quick on your football I.Q. just by your lingo,” he said. “So they start looking at you like, ‘Yo, you play ball?’”

Whether at the line of scrimmage or a hospital crash cart, these athletes say the fundamentals travel well: teamwork, preparation, composure, and the instinct to perform when the clock is ticking.