Spotlight

Jordan Senn

Trust Spotlights

Jordan Senn

Share

Jordan Senn is a former NFL linebacker who played for eight seasons. Senn went from using his talents to make his team better to now making people's lives better in the medical field.

Jordan Senn grew up in Beaverton, Oregon where he started playing football from a young age. The aggression and contact of the game were some of the many things that he enjoyed as well as forming lifelong bonds with teammates that he still keeps in touch with to this day.

Senn made the jump from playing running back and safety to linebacker in his senior season of high school. The recommendation came from his high school coach and turned out to be a great move as Senn eventually made it to the NFL as a linebacker.

Senn entered into the League as an undrafted free agent with the Indianapolis Colts. He enjoyed his time with the Colts and took advantage of the opportunity to play under head coach Tony Dungy and alongside teammates Peyton Manning and Jeff Saturday. Senn mentioned his NFL experience was tough, but he always came in with the mindset of finding ways to make the team better.

After retiring from the NFL, Senn decided to go back to school. He didn’t know what to expect but used that opportunity to take classes in the field of science as he was always interested in that subject. Senn mentioned the transition was tough but thankfully, he had a support system to get him through.

Luckily, I was back home in the Portland metro area, and I have a lot of childhood friends, the same guys I spoke of earlier that I played with growing up, as well as my wife, and my parents live in the area, while my brother and sister live in Oregon. So, I had a lot of family and a lot of people trying to support me just to encourage me to just do whatever. They've always given me all the confidence in the world and that helps a lot, because it's definitely a challenging process

Senn is now training to become an emergency medicine doctor. Prior to that, he went back to school to get his pre-med prerequisites and spent three years in Hawaii for his clinical rotations before graduating from A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona. Senn enjoyed helping his teammates as a football player and he applied that same mentality to make him feel comfortable in medicine.

I appreciated getting to know different people by asking a lot of questions, so I think that's helped me have that skill of learning how to get along with people and connect with humans… there's a lot of people, nurses, technicians running different machines to get X rays and ultrasound… there's a lot of moving parts. Everybody has a big role in patient care so I think, as a player, I was never really a star, I was always the kind of the guy who was trying to do whatever I could do to help improve my teammates and the team

Senn’s advice to former players searching for their passion outside of football is to put their all into whatever it is that they are doing at the moment. Things will eventually work out if you work hard and fully invest in the things that you’re doing. He also mentioned that it’s not necessary to have the answer right away after finishing football as everything will fall into place in due time.

Senn got involved with The Trust at a time when he was looking for guidance. Talking to people and utilizing the financial resources available was crucial for Senn, as it allowed him to go to medical school without paying full cost. This removed the financial barrier of going back to school, and he eventually took advantage of a scholarship provided by AthLife to earn his medical degree.

Senn encouraged former players to utilize the benefits provided by The Trust. “I think that was something that more people should be aware of.” he said, while also describing his experience as, “encouraging and inspiring”.

It's provided me with encouragement and some support to make probably the hardest transition I've had in my life easier. It’s provided the support and encouragement to make that transition. I believed that I could do it

Senn described his life journey as, “embrace the change.” How one adapts to those changes, he says, determines if they will be successful.

The Trust is here to support you.
Ready to learn how?

Related Spotlights

Spotlight

Kenneth Coffey

Kenneth Coffey discusses how football became his goal and vehicle to success.

Spotlight

Lousaka Polite

Director of Outreach for The Trust, Lousaka Polite shares how his journey came full circle

Spotlight

Marcus Lucas

Marcus Lucas explores the opportunities The Trust offers eligible Former Players.