There comes a time in most individuals' lives in which they're forced to consider a secondary plan for the future.
This happens quite often in professional sports, where the average career doesn't last very long. Linebacker Myles Jack recently reached this point in his career when the Steelers released him in March after one season spent in Pittsburgh.
Jack didn't garner attention from prospective NFL teams as quickly as he expected, spending the offseason in the unenviable group of unemployed veterans and forcing him to consider a reality in which he'd no longer play football professionally. Instead of weighing a step into broadcasting or coaching -- paths common for former NFLers -- Jack took a hard left toward trade school, mulling on becoming an electrician or plumber, per The Athletic's Zach Berman.
It's not as if Jack needed the money -- but he couldn't accept a future spent doing nothing.
"I like to work. I couldn't sit at home," Jack said, via Berman. "I've been blessed to make a lot of money. I could retire and sit at the house. ... I want to be innovative. If a Zombie apocalypse came, I want to be able to build something."
Being useful in something other than sports certainly isn't a bad idea. But Jack doesn't need to fill out an application for trade school, at least not now. He has a job to earn with the defending NFC champion Eagles, who signed him Sunday.
Jack's brush with a life without football reminded him of a harsh reality.
"Time waits for nobody," Jack said.
It could be his new source of motivation in Philadelphia.
