Former Broncos TE Julius Thomas promotes group helping players transition from NFL life

USA Today

2 days ago

Transitioning from having a successful professional sports career is difficult. That is why former Denver Broncos tight end Julius Thomas is one of the faces helping athletes transition from professional sports to private life.
Thomas is a member of an organization called the Pro Athlete Community (PAC). "PAC is an exclusive network that connects the biggest talent in sports with the brightest minds in business to unlock life's next chapter," according to their website. "Through transformative education, elite mentorship, and connections, we empower professional athletes to not only envision their future but relentlessly pursue it with confidence, purpose, and authenticity."
Thomas originally heard about PAC from co-founder Kaleb Thornhill, who was the Director of Player Engagement with the Miami Dolphins organization, when Thomas was a player for the Fins in 2017. "We built a really great relationship, and when I was leaving the NFL, to go back to study my doctorate in clinical psychology, we met at a Starbucks and he was telling me, 'Hey man, I'm really interested in doing this work to help NFL players better transition from the league to what they're doing next," Thomas told Broncos Wire. "Back then, it was called ATU, or Athlete Transition University. We started working together, and then when he went full-time, and started and founded the company with Chip Pautek, they brought me on to really help with some of the education pieces."
PAC partners with the University of Miami's (Florida) Miami Herbert Business School.
PAC was created for current and former players of several leagues, not just the NFL. In fact, reigning Defensive Player of the Year and current Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain joined a PAC conference in the early stages of the company.
Thomas has seen several advantages through PAC to help him in his life today.
"I can raise my hand and be a testimony for what PAC has meant for me," said Thomas. "Starting with giving me one of my first opportunities to do consulting work as I pursued my degree... It gave me an opportunity to start putting these the new skills I was developing into use."
PAC has also provided opportunities to grow networks for these current and former players, whose networks really shrink when a career ends.
"PAC has been really important from a lot of different sides of what it means to transition," said Thomas. "I leave PAC so inspired when I see the things that other former players are doing or what they want to do. It fires me up, and gives me a little bit extra motivation as I continue to pursue what I'm doing post my career."
If fans want to learn more about the work that PAC and Thomas are a part of, click here to find more information.
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