As you know by now, Pittsburgh Steelers inside linebacker Ryan Shazier recently went on teammate Roosevelt Nix‘s podcast, as the third guest of his show. Alex Kozora transcribed the big nugget from the interview, Shazier saying that he is determined not just to get back on the field, but the continue to pursue his Hall of Fame ambitions.
While that is huge to hear, he did have other things to say. Toward the end of the interview, Nix asked him what he wanted to do when his playing career really is over; in other words, what his long-term goals are. Whether that is a process that begins this year or a decade and a half from now, where will life take him when he is done playing?
It might not surprise you to learn that his ambitions off the field are as great as those on it. “I really want to be on some Magic Johnson-type stuff”, he said of the NBA Hall of Famer who went on to have successful business ventures and now shares ownership of multiple sports teams.
“I really want to have a successful career. I constantly network with people when it’s the offseason, so like right now, I might get an opportunity to do something in California”. He talked about how when most players participate in events, they just get it over with and leave. He uses those opportunities to get to know powerful people and learn.
“I’ve really been getting to know a lot of really intelligent people and really successful people, and I’m just trying to grab their knowledge”, he said of his recent experiences with regard to working at events and other projects that have put him in touch with different ideas and industries. He said that he might go back to college, even, and further his education.
“Honestly I want to be something like [Magic Johnson]. I’d love to try to be able to have enough to become a GM and run a team or be an owner”, he went on. “My goal is really to be like the president of a corporation or an owner”.
Currently, as both Art Rooney II and Kevin Colbert have confirmed, Shazier spends most of his days when he is not rehabbing—which he says he spends two hours a day, five days a week doing—at the Steelers’ facilities working with and learning from various groups, sitting in on meetings with the front office, the scouts, and just absorbing what he can.
Of course, all of that ultimately comes secondary to his goal of returning to the field and being the best football player in the NFL. He already believes that he is the most talented player in the league, and is driven by the desire to demonstrate it. That desire, that ambition will serve him well for any goal he sets for himself.
