9 of the most popular jobs professional football players take after retiring from the NFL

As far as careers go, playing for the NFL doesn't have much of a shelf life.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the average NFL career length across all positions is 2.66 years.

So what do NFL players do once they hang up their cleats and put away their helmets for the last time?

In recent memory, ex-pro football players have landed everywhere from the morning shows to the field of neurosurgery, from Broadway to Barclays.

LinkedIn recently analyzed data on over 3,000 former NFL players to find out where they headed next, finding that most former players ultimately landed in small business, entrepreneurial, and sales roles. Here's the breakdown:

• 20% small business / entrepreneur
• 18% sales
• 9% coaching / fitness professional
• 8% finance/insurance/banking
• 5% campus and professional athletics
• 3% media and sports broadcasting
• 3% education
• 2% non-profit/board member
• 23% other

Read more about post-football careers in LinkedIn's infographic, below.

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