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USA Today
3 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
Former Broncos TE Julius Thomas promotes group helping players transition from NFL life
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. Social: Follow Broncos Wire on Facebook and Twitter/X! Did you know: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
USA Today
26-06-2025
- Health
- USA Today
Julius Thomas left the NFL when he was 30. His new calling is a much less bruising field.
As his NFL career blossomed, Julius Thomas said he started having questions. Why was the team practicing a certain way? Why was the offense running this scheme? What was the philosophy behind it all? The two-time Pro Bowl tight end recalled pushing his coaches for clarity. But at multiple NFL stops, their answer was the same: "They said, 'Hey man, we don't pay you to think. We pay you to run.'" Thomas took it as a sign. At just 30 years old, he decided to walk away from the bruising world of the NFL to pursue a new career in a notably less bruising field: Clinical psychology. After seven seasons of pro football, including two as a go-to target for Peyton Manning with the Denver Broncos, Thomas retired in 2018 and enrolled in psychology courses at Nova Southeastern University in Florida. He learned about behavioral neuroscience, contributed to a study on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), launched a high performance and wellness company and, earlier this month, graduated with a doctoral degree in clinical psychology. It's been a welcome change for someone who, for so much of his life, was viewed through the lens of his athleticism and powerful 6-foot-5 frame. "That was the hardest part of being an athlete for me: I felt like my real talent was mental, but I wasn't able to show it, and I wasn't able to develop that side of who I was," he told USA TODAY Sports. "It's really cool to be able to have the (psychology) degrees and the training, to show that I have that side of me, too.' Though Thomas, now 36, walked across the stage at graduation earlier this month, he said his academic training won't completely end until he wraps up his one-year clinical residency at Nova Southeastern's Psychology Services Center in September. He's amassed more than 2,000 hours of real-world experience this year alone − teaching classes, working in clinics and seeing patients in therapy between the ages of 10 and 71. "I've got to get some great perspective that I never could've imagined having," Thomas said. "Going from being around millionaires and billionaires to serving people in community mental health clinics that can only afford $10 for a session or sometimes no money at all. Getting to see that juxtaposition in peoples' lifestyles and their challenges, but then getting to see the commonality, right? "It doesn't matter what you have, it doesn't matter what you've earned. The experiences mentally and emotionally can be challenging." 'A big nerd!' Thomas never thought he'd come back to school − let alone to study subjects like psychology and behavioral neuroscience. He was a business administration major during his undergraduate days at Portland State, where he primarily played Division I basketball. After being drafted by the Broncos in the fourth round in 2011, despite having played just one year of college football, Thomas soon established himself as a major contributor with Manning under center. He racked up 12 touchdown catches and made the Pro Bowl in back-to-back years in 2013 and 2014. But after joining the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency on a big-money contract, the injuries started to hit. The Jaguars traded him to the Miami Dolphins, who cut him after one season. It was around that time that Thomas said one of his now mentors, a sports psychologist, invited him to sit in on some classes. By the time the start of the 2018 season rolled around, Thomas had decided to retire and move on to his second career. In an essay for The Players' Tribune announcing his retirement, he described the move as a "journey into self." "For me, stepping away wasn't as hard as I've seen it be for other people," he explained. "Even when I was in college, I was always interested in how I would do outside of sports. What would I get into?" Psychology courses quickly allowed Thomas to stretch his mind in new ways. They also opened the door for him to seek answers to some of the other questions that had popped up during his NFL career, including those around CTE, the neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated blows to the head. Thomas started taking neuroscience classes, in addition to psychology, and contributed to research about CTE in current and former football players, boxers and fighters. He said researching the disease actually somewhat eased his nerves, by illustrating cases in which former athletes had evidence of the disease without the major symptoms. "We don't know how many people may have had the pathology and didn't have the symptoms," said Thomas, who is also president of the Society for Sports Neuroscience. "So I do think there's a connection between severe symptomology and CTE, but from what I've studied and learned, I'm less nervous about CTE than I've ever been. Just because I think there's a lot of things combined in CTE symptomology that you can help with by staying on top of your health." Professor Jaime Tartar, who collaborated with Thomas on that research, said he brings a rare combination of skills and experiences to his work − an ability to call on his experiences as an athlete when needed, but also thrive in academic and clinical settings without it. "It's easy to forget that Julius had a career in professional football because he's such a thoughtful, curious and deeply analytical person," Tartar, who chairs the department of psychology and neuroscience at Nova Southeastern, wrote in an e-mail. "In other words, he is a big nerd!" The complexity of humanness Thomas said the motivation behind his new career is to help people become "solid from the inside out." He's fueled by the moments he spent looking across the locker room at a teammate and thinking "man, somebody should help that guy." But his experience in the NFL doesn't mean he wants to be known as only "the athlete psychologist." In fact, as he worked towards his doctoral degree, Thomas was struck by the common threads between athletes and working professionals in other careers − writers, producers, accountants, lawyers. "Being a human is hard. It's always been hard," Thomas said. "Study history. Read some of the most successful, high-performing people of status. Read their memoirs. There is no protection from inner struggle." Thomas is trained in the type of work that people often associate with therapy − the unpacking of past experiences or traumas − but said he is most interested in the part of the process that comes after: Helping people find new ways to level up in their lives or careers. So, in 2023, he founded a high-performance and wellness company called Optimal Performance, which aims to provide resources for everyday working professionals. He speaks and consults with companies and teams, and is in the process of assembling a group of experts who can provide advice on everything from sleep and stress to personal finance. "Every industry, every discipline has different sets of behaviors that help you be really great in that," he said. "I love helping people dial in on what are the behaviors that are going to help you get towards where you want to go, professionally. But then also, what are the behaviors that are going to help you create the vision for your personal life?" Thomas said he hopes to expand and focus more on Optimal Performance after completing his clinical residency this fall − the next step in what he called "a phenomenal life journey." He figures he's probably one of the few people lucky enough to play in an NCAA tournament game, catch a pass in the Super Bowl and wear a white coat as a doctor at a hospital. "I pinch myself all the time," he said. "I don't know how my life has twisted and turned this way, but I'm very grateful." Contact Tom Schad at tschad@ or on social media @
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Julius Thomas gives his prediction for Bo Nix's second season
Julius Thomas had a relatively brief but impactful career with the Denver Broncos. Playing for the club from 2011-2014, Thomas recorded two Pro Bowl seasons in 2013 and 2014. In those two seasons, he tallied 1,277 yards and 24 touchdowns, becoming one of Peyton Manning's favorite targets. So when it comes to the Broncos, he's certified. This is why, after nailing his Bo Nix prediction in 2024, he's back for a second prediction for Nix in his sophomore season. Thomas stated that Nix, although it may have been uncertain for Broncos Country then, would be pleased with Nix as the quarterback. This year, Thomas sees growth due to how Nix came in and learned Sean Payton's system at a rapid pace. Thomas elaborates more below. Nix showed he could be an elite quarterback in college, playing for two teams and five different offensive coordinators in five years. Despite that, he left the NCAA as the single-season completion percentage leader in 2024. So, with stability in the NFL, Thomas has merit in believing that Nix will make an even bigger jump in 2025. Advertisement Related: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans. This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: NFL: Julius Thomas gives his prediction for Bo Nix's second season
