Life after football can be a smooth transition for some, but for others, it takes a turn so unexpected, it feels like it came straight out of a movie. From Hollywood dreams to courtroom drama, and everything in between, some NFL stars took paths so unpredictable you might have to double-check their Wikipedia pages.
Whether it was chasing a new passion or falling into controversy, these players prove that life after the NFL is anything but boring. Here are 15 NFL players whose careers took a wild left turn post-football.
15. Ricky Williams
After leaving football behind, Ricky didn’t just relax on a beach—he became an astrologer and launched his cannabis brand. The man went from rushing yards to rising moons.
14. Jason Brown
Brown shocked everyone by walking away from millions to become a full-time farmer. He traded touchdowns for turnips and never looked back.
13. Herschel Walker
Walker has dipped his toes into everything from MMA fighting to running for political office. You never quite know what lane he’s going to swerve into next.
12. Jared Allen
Post-retirement, Allen took up curling and even tried to make the Olympics. From sacking quarterbacks to sliding stones, the transition was hilariously unexpected.
11. Terry Glenn
After his NFL career, Glenn had a string of legal and personal issues that kept his name in the news for all the wrong reasons. His post-football life became a sad cautionary tale.
10. Johnny Manziel
Johnny Football’s off-field life quickly became more infamous than anything he did on it. After bouncing out of the league, he tried everything from CFL stints to wild podcast stories.
9. Colin Kaepernick
Kaepernick went from Super Bowl quarterback to a polarizing political figure virtually overnight. His post-football chapter has been defined more by activism than athletics, sparking debates that still rage on.
8. Vince Young
After his NFL days, Young faced financial struggles and even tried working at a university to turn things around. It’s been a rollercoaster of restarts ever since.
7. Plaxico Burress
Burress’s post-football journey got real complicated real fast after a self-inflicted gunshot wound led to jail time. It was a sudden and surreal shift from Super Bowl hero to inmate.
6. Lawrence Phillips
One of the most tragic stories in NFL history, Phillips’s life spiraled after football with a series of violent crimes and eventual incarceration. His story ended in prison under heartbreaking circumstances.
5. Nate Newton
Newton went from being a key part of the Cowboys dynasty to serving time for drug trafficking. That sharp turn from Pro Bowler to prisoner shocked the NFL world.
4. Ray Carruth
Carruth’s post-football story is one of the darkest ever, involving a murder-for-hire plot and a high-profile manhunt. His name became synonymous with one of the league’s worst scandals.
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3. O.J. Simpson
You can’t talk about wild left turns without mentioning O.J. His post-NFL life involved one of the most infamous murder trials of all time and a bizarre pop culture resurgence.
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2. Aaron Hernandez
From NFL stardom to a murder conviction and prison suicide, Hernandez’s story was as shocking as it was tragic. No one could’ve predicted the darkness that followed his playing days.
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1. Antonio Brown
What didn’t AB do after football? From music videos to lawsuits to arena football ownership, it’s been one chaotic left turn after another.
