Imagine if your nurse used to be an NFL player

An interesting article from The New York Times reports that a number of former NFL players are taking on second careers as nurses. What’s striking is how these athletes, accustomed to teamwork, physical exertion, intense training and high-stakes performance, are translating those skills into the healthcare setting.

At first glance, it’s a strange metamorphosis. How does one exchange the roaring crowds for the intimacy of patient care? But maybe they are using those same skills from football, just in a different form. Nurses are like captains at the helm of a constantly capsizing ship. Code blues, difficult patients, sudden emergencies, unpredictable tides – they manage crises in an adrenaline-filled environment with composure. Perhaps that’s exactly what draws these former NFL players to nursing. The familiar rhythm of crisis and teamwork. The need to analyze moves within split seconds and execute seamlessly as a unit. Only now, they make life-saving decisions instead of game-winning ones, and their teamwork becomes the glue that holds a hospital together. It’s a different kind of resilience, one rooted in service rather than spectacle.

I think this trend echoes beautifully my blog’s theme: following tangents with intent to reach telos. These athletes have redefined strength from the yards run to the empathy extended. The same discipline that once perfected a tackle now perfects a blood draw. Their stories remind me that life and identity can take different forms even within the same person. As long as the values are the same and refine as you grow, you are on your way to telos!