Advice All Pro Athletes Need | Zach Miller | Athlete CEO Podcast with Erik and Brandon Averill

Athlete CEO Podcast 

Advice All Pro Athletes Need 

Former NFL TE and Super Bowl Champion Zach Miller knows firsthand how unprepared athletes are for money management and even more unprepared to enter the workforce after their playing careers. That’s why he’s decided to pursue wealth management as a career after the NFL. His goal is to help equip athletes with the same knowledge he wished he had when he played. Many in the financial business have given up on pro athletes, that’s why Zach Miller has not.

Guest: Zach Miller

Twitter: twitter.com/ZachMiller86

1:52

What you can’t google about Zach Miller when it comes to his deciding on Arizona State for college, and his path to the NFL and becoming a Super Bowl champion

4:59

The depression he experienced after retiring from the NFL and how he figured out what he was going to do next. 

Zach Miller: “You need to change your identity. Every NFL player will experience this because you can’t play forever, the sooner you can transition into your next career, the better.”

7:35

Every athlete goes through it, but when did Zach first realize football was a business? 

Zach Miller: “After I had outplayed my rookie contract with the Raiders, they kept telling me to be patient: ‘you’ll be rewarded, you’ll be rewarded,’ and then free agency hits and the Raiders weren’t there with the offer.”

10:45

One thing many players don’t realize is all of the resources and benefits they have at their disposal through the NFL Player’s Association.

14:20

The system is really set up to fail professional athletes, especially when they’re young and first coming into the league, whether it be the NFL, NBA or MLB.

Zach Miller: “When you come into the NFL you are 21-22 years old, it’s unrealistic to think that these guys, and I’m including myself, I was financially illiterate. You haven’t experienced or worked long enough to know the differences between the right people to hire and evaluating an advisor or agent.” 

20:30

The main issue when it comes to pro athletes and good investment and financial advice is that once you reach a certain amount of wealth there are certain professionals you need to speak with because the point of entry for financial advisors is so low.

Zach Miller: “You need an expert that specializes in you and in what you do.”

22:30

Zach interviewed with many other financial advising firms or RIAs and he asked them point blank why they didn’t represent or help professional athletes.

Zach Miller: NFL guys will just spend all their money. You’ll do all this work and they won’t have any money left. I just reject that opinion. I don’t think that’s true. If you are doing good work and giving the best advice you can actually help a ton of NFL guys. I want to give the kind of advice I wish I had as a young player.” 

25:26

Professional athletes in NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA need their financial advisors to do so much more than investment. There are so many components to the financial side for professional athletes beyond investment.

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