Freddy Keiaho

My main concern was my health issues. I had a lot of concussions and I didn't want any long-term health effects from the concussions. So, it was fear, uncertainty, and frustration.

I was always the person who was of the mind of, "I don’t identify with being a football player." I identified with so many other things, and I distanced myself from that – So, I kind of minimized the transition emotions that were going to happen and occur. And I think too many guys minimize that transition.

I mean, I’m still transitioning. I’ve had three really great opportunities for careers, and I think I’ve finally settled on my one. But, it’s really tough to find out what you want after your first love is gone. With football, we’ve done it our whole lives –It was something we’ve been programmed to do. And we’ve lived the dream. But finding a way to extend that dream and finding fulfillment in other careers, it’s a challenge and that’s okay.

I was really alone when I was retiring. I tried to turn to the friends and I used my support network and my family. I just really didn’t feel like I had anything. It didn’t feel like there was anything that could help me with my transition at the time.

I took a few years off from working, trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I started taking a bunch of careers that seemed like a good opportunity, but I just really didn’t love and connect with them.

I discovered that I want to be my own boss, and I want to live the “American dream” and be an entrepreneur, so that’s what I’ve been pursuing.

Literally, when I heard about The Trust, I wanted a free dinner. But then they talked about all these programs and what I've gotten out of {The Trust} has been far more valuable than the free dinner.

You know, in the last CBA, there’s twenty-two million dollars allocated to {The Trust} every year. By us using these programs, we’re actually doing two things: we’re paying it forward to other players just because we’re going to help them in their collective lives, but more importantly, we’re paying it forward to ourselves because these programs and what they provide, they’re just so helpful. I mean, there’s just so many programs to help you, and all you have to do is ask.

I think I’ve always been really concerned about how my body, and how much I weigh. I’ve always felt that you should approach your health from a holistic viewpoint, but just the tools, the additional tools {Cleveland Clinic} gives you, and the blood assessment. I mean, it’s amazing the workup they give you.

To have that information, and for them to tell you, “hey, you’re deficient in these areas in your health,” as far as minerals go, and helping you set up a game plan to address those, it’s huge. When you implement those things in your life, it’s life changing.

We’re football players, we’re really disciplined. If we just maintain those disciplines and that attitude towards our personal health, it’s going to be a great step in mitigating a lot of those health concerns when we’re older because we’ve absorbed a lot of abuse and a lot of punishment.

One of the best things was the attention {Cleveland Clinic} paid to vestibular issues. I've had so many head injuries, and this was the first neurological assessment that addressed the vestibular issue. As we get hit in the head, sometimes our inner ears get offset and there are certain things that trigger vestibular problems. It can be as simple as patterns on the ground, or patterns on the wall.

A lot of my friends, myself included, just have felt off-balance and part of that might actually be a vestibular issue. If more guys understood the importance of the vestibular system I think they could be in a better state of mind and be more healthy overall.

The EXOS assessment is really about finding the asymmetries throughout your body and finding ways that can help you move better. A lot of time we don't work out because we're in pain. One of the reasons we're in pain is because we don't work out. So a great thing that the assessment does is it puts together a game plan where you can address the areas where you have pain to help you get to the point where you can work out again and have a healthy lifestyle.

EXOS opens their doors for you and they’ve opened their doors for me. So, for me, who’s pretty workout centric and I just enjoy that part of my life, EXOS gives me an opportunity to reconnect with athletes coming in.

You know, they open their doors to a recovery session every Wednesday and anytime I want to talk, shop, or go in there and ask questions for them, they are more than willing to listen to me and talk to me. So, EXOS is just a great resource, as far as asking them for ideas and talking, and working out.

The Breakfast Club was a great experience. It allowed us to be back in that football mentality, and that locker room environment. The locker room is something that you really miss when you’re out of it. And, of course, being able to work out in the EXOS facility is amazing. I was joking with one of the trainers there, "Well, this really ruins me when I go back to LA Fitness because it’s going to be terrible going back there."

What the Breakfast Club did more than anything was really create a sense of accountability towards players because that’s where the impact comes from. It’s like, I’m here because I want to get better, and second, I’m here because all these guys around me are here and they’re invested in the program.

If you don’t show up, you’re going to hear about it. If you’re late, you’re going to hear about it. So, just the built-in accountability in a group training session is huge. It comes back to being a part of the locker room and having jokes, because everybody in the locker room has jokes. That was one of the best things about it, just recreating that atmosphere.

During my time in the NFL, I took advantage of a lot of the opportunities that were available. However, implementing and applying the knowledge from those programs is a lot harder. You don’t anticipate the emotions that you go through in the transition process. That part is often overlooked.

I would have set up a game plan in college – before even considering the NFL. College is where it really starts. Our lives are really regimented up to that point, and if somebody like a career counselor would have contacted me in college it would have been a more positive step towards my next steps in retirement.

You know, it’s going to be hard to transition and that’s okay if it is. If you’re saying it’s not hard to transition and stuff like that, then that’s great for you. But for me and a lot of guys I’ve spoken to, it’s a difficult transition. Even if you don’t want to associate your life and your identity solely with football, just getting over something that you’ve done for the majority of your life is tough, and that’s okay.