ALZHEIMER football players also being Black. These are spaces where people have expectations for you, and you feel like you belong. But that isn’t how the rest of the world works. I have found myself in experiences and situations where I am the only Black man present, and I have felt like an outsider. In some respects, that challenge was the most beneficial part of graduate school. Transitioning to life after football and learning about everything from CTE and brain injuries to Alzheimer’s and other dementia also got me thinking about how caregiving shaped my experience and the way I approach life. Being a Black man in the research space also made me painfully aware that I am sometimes the only one traversing these spaces. I played football for 16 years; when I was no longer playing, I had a bit of an identity crisis. ‘Who am I outside of football, and what do I do beyond that?’ When I started graduate school, I studied the life course of athletes to answer that exact question: Why do some athletes struggle in their transition to life after football? I focus on this in my book, “Not For Long: The Life and Career of the NFL Athlete.” As a Black man, there have been many spaces where I was told I should be grateful for the opportunity I was given — and that I would need to find a whole lot of strength to navigate my way. This all shaped my education, which got me to start thinking about caregiving and how best to support other families. I first started studying brain injury in relation to concussions and CTE, which led me to further studies around dementia. While I was training as a sociologist, Keith E. Whitfield, Ph.D., president of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), got me interested in becoming a gerontologist. He was the one who first got me involved in the Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART), which convenes the global Alzheimer's and dementia science community. By sharing knowledge and collaborating with others in the field, I began to think about ways to advance research to help former athletes navigate the complicated world of Alzheimer’s. I truly feel like I am part of a team again. Today, I’m fortunate to have the support of my family and friends and from my colleagues in gerontology. I found a supportive academic and professional space where people are so dedicated to solving the issues related to Alzheimer’s. They give me the tools to be successful, because the more successful I am as an individual, the more successful we are collectively. As a former NFL player, what is the biggest impact being made with the National Football League Alumni Association? 11
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