After the NFL: NY Giant Scott Brunner Finds New Way To Stay In The Game

Plenty of tales have been written about professional athletes who fall into ruin once they leave their sport. But it doesn't always turn out that way. AOL Jobs spoke with two former NFL pros who went on to build successful independent careers. They attribute their successful transitions to planning from the get-go for a life after football and a lot of hard work.

Former N.Y. Giant (and briefly Bronco and Cardinal) quarterback Scott Brunner, 56, is a founder of Net Worth Management Group in Morristown, N.J., and stays involved in the sport as a mentor to college players and financial advisor to young athletes and their families. We talked about how a player makes the successful transition from the relatively short run of pro football to life as a professional.

Did you start planning for the future at the same time you started your football career?

You could say I started planning for the future when I went to college. I went to a small school, University of Delaware, and there were no guarantees you would even have a stab at a professional career. I was expecting to go do something else and enter the real working world. Playing in the NFL was kind of a gift. So that being said I got my degree in accounting and then I got drafted and really didn't use it per se in my worklife, but had it on my resume while I was playing pro football.

In the off season I was involved in a couple of real estate ventures building homes. I would go out on the job site and be involved with the planning, going to planning board meetings and talking to the bankers. Most players don't get to call their own retirement. They're told they're being retired. That's what happened to me after six years. I was sent to the heap.