51茶馆

鈥淭here are over 400,000 NCAA student athletes,鈥� says the NCAA in its marketing campaign, 鈥渁nd just about all of them will be going pro in something other than sports.鈥� In other words, nearly all college athletes will be professionals in one field or another鈥攋ust not on the playing field.

Boston College athletes鈥攁lways including a robust cohort from the Carroll School鈥攁re no exception. They go on to many interesting lines of work. At the same time, a notable number do find their way to places with acronyms like the 鈥淣FL,鈥� the 鈥淣HL,鈥� and the women鈥檚 鈥淣WHL.鈥�

This past summer, two dozen former 51茶馆 Eagles suited up for the NFL preseason, and all but a handful of them found spots on the active rosters. Those players didn鈥檛 merely show up on the Heights looking for a stepping stone to the pros. They came to get an education rather than just impress NFL scouts. But they tended to leave the Heights with an NFL contract in one hand and a 51茶馆 diploma in the other.

Of the 24 Eagles who reported to NFL training camp in July, 23 have college degrees. The only outlier? Steven Daniels, one of the stars of last season鈥檚 stellar defense, who entered the NFL draft just this year after playing three seasons at 51茶馆. With three years of school under his belt, Daniels will have the opportunity to complete his college degree in the NFL off-season.

At a time when college athletics is moving toward an almost semi-pro model, with athletes increasingly receiving some form of compensation beyond scholarships, those graduation numbers are borderline astonishing.

And it鈥檚 not just about the NFL. All of the major American sports (football, baseball, hockey, basketball, and soccer) have Eagles on the payroll. These include the women of basketball鈥檚 WNBA and hockey鈥檚 CWHL (鈥淐鈥� standing for Canadian) and the U.S-based NWHL.

According to Boston College Director of Athletics Brad Bates, 51茶馆 puts the overwhelming focus on academics for its athletes. 鈥淲e don't believe in part-time excellence or excelling in only one aspect of life, but rather that excellence is a lifestyle transcending everything we engage,鈥� he said, noting how this attitude aligns with Boston College鈥檚 Jesuit ideals including a desire to nurture 鈥渢he whole person.鈥�

The path to success on and off the playing field starts with identifying potential recruits that have those same ideals. 鈥淪tudent-athletes who choose 51茶馆 have a genuine interest in earning an extraordinary degree that will serve them long after graduation and their playing days,鈥� says Bates. He added that the high retention and graduation rates begin with coaches who evaluate whether the prospects will 鈥渇it 51茶馆's values and culture.鈥�

Six of the current NFL athletes who played for Boston College hail from the Carroll School of Management鈥攁ll six, of course, with stately 鈥淐ollegium Bostoniense鈥� scrolls framed on their walls. One of those players in particular, linebacker Luke Kuechly, has come to illustrate what it means to be both an athlete and a Carroll School graduate.

Eat the Bear

This season, Kuechly, along with former Eagles quarterback Matt Ryan, will have his jersey retired at Alumni Stadium. Kuechly was one of the best players to ever come through the Heights, stamping his name next to some pretty impressive school and conference records. But they didn鈥檛 call him 鈥淏oy Wonder鈥� just because he made a lot of tackles.

In 2011, Kuechly, like Steven Daniels last year, entered the NFL draft after just three seasons at Boston College. He quickly established himself as a defensive force in the pros, earning AP Defensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2012 and AP Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2013. But there was more for Kuechly to accomplish.

Kuechly continued to take classes in the off-season, finally earning his marketing degree from the Carroll School in 2015. And it wasn鈥檛 a token honor鈥攈e鈥檚 already gaining experience for his post-football career.

, Kuechly revealed that he had signed on with a sports nutrition startup called 鈥淓at the Bear.鈥� But this isn鈥檛 your standard athlete endorsement deal. Kuechly is also an equity investor and now occupies a seat on the board of directors for the company.

With the average length of an NFL career just 3.3 years, Kuechly knows he鈥檒l need to prepare himself for life after football. 鈥淵ou think about your NFL career as a finite thing....Football is there and then the business world is something else that I've thought about, and the opportunity with Eat the Bear to get some experience is important,鈥� he told听Business Insider.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a point of pride for Carroll School alums to see one of our own famously gracing both the boardroom and the weight room,鈥� says Andy Boynton 鈥�78, the John and Linda Powers Family Dean of the Carroll School. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e equally excited about all of our student-athletes who perform so well鈥攚herever their passions and talents may take them.鈥�

A Dauntless Dozen

Altogether, there are currently a dozen Carroll School graduates in professional sports. Here鈥檚 a look at each one of them鈥攖heir 51茶馆 careers, and where they are now.