In this episode of Transforming Sport, Dr. Anastasiya Khomutova from the University of Brighton speaks with Dr. Robert W. Turner II, who is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Research and Leadership at The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Science and Global Sport Visiting scholar at Arizona State University. They sat down to discuss the issues facing professional football players transitioning out of sport and the unpaid labour of college athletes in the United States. Uniquely qualified as a former professional football player in the NFL, CFL, and defunct US Football League, and an expert in psychosocial and neurocognitive risk and protective factors in sport scholarship, Robert Turner’s ethnographic account of the lifeworld of professional athletes and the transitions between college, professional, and retired status highlights the struggles of pursuing the athletic dream. Here he discusses his personal journey and trajectory from professional football player to career academic researcher. Noting the mistrust which athletes often have of journalists, Robert discusses the necessity of an ethical approach to building rapport with interlocutors. He also discusses how a lack of focus on the transition to life after sports can have a variety of long-term health consequences and that teachers, coaches, and scholars need to support athletes to develop their skills and themselves as individuals beyond their sport.
Anastasiya Khomutova is Senior Lecturer and member of the Sport and Leisure Cultures research group at the University of Brighton. She can be found on twitter @DrKhomutova, and her research is accessible via her University of Brighton staff profile page.
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