Former NFL star D’Brickashaw Ferguson, All-American turned offensive tackle for the New York Jets, is headed to nursing school. “D’Brick” announced the news on the NFL Players: Second Acts podcast.
“I’m like, ‘Well, I still have to find myself,” he said, as reported by Nurse.org. “I’m still alive, right?’ I still have a purpose. Yes, I played football. Yes, I had a great career, but what am I today?”
Following a 10-season career, Ferguson retired from the NFL in 2016. Since then, he has pursued higher education. The All-American enrolled in Columbia University to study angel investing. However, Ferguson ultimately found the investment industry not quite to his liking. Now the retired player wants to give back by becoming a health care hero.
A nurse herself, Ferguson’s mother first introduced the idea of becoming a nurse to the NFL star. Ferguson ‘s interest in medicine also manifested when he was 9 years old. As a child, he underwent open-heart surgery.
“One thing that she liked about nursing was the opportunity to learn a new space,” Ferguson said. “But you can also learn a lot of different spaces.”
The talented offensive tackle completed his prerequisite courses at a community college. Now he’s prepared to begin his nursing classed in fall 2023.
“I just needed that sense of, ‘I think I can do this,’” Ferguson told Sports Illustrated. “I wanted something that I could offer. Like, yes I play football, but I have this. I’m qualified to do this work and I play football. So if both of them help or encourage one another, great. But even without football I can still do my job with excellence, that’s something we learned as athletes.”
Ferguson has not decided what type of nurse he wants to be quite yet. While he is considering becoming a nurse practitioner, the former player said he can also see himself becoming a floor nurse in an urgent care setting.