Former Essendon star Jobe Watson has offered his advice to current players about the importance of planning for life after football.
Watson retired at the end of the 2017 season after a sensational 220-game career in the red and black, launching into successful café and property businesses in New York and Melbourne respectively.
But the former skipper said his transition into life after elite sport wouldn’t have been so smooth had he not taken the time to look deeper into his passions when forced away from the game for 12 months in 2016.
“I didn’t think a lot about (life after football) until I got older in my career,” Watson said on 3AW on Wednesday.
“I look at that 12 months off and there was a real silver lining in that 12 months, because of the experience that I was able to get and the way in which it prepared me for life after football.
“I moved to New York and lived a completely different life to the one that I had and I had an array of different experiences that were really beneficial for my growth.”
Watson takes part in a lap of honour following his retirement. (Image: AFL Photos)
Watson said his dedication to playing AFL football – a dream since he was a little kid watching his father, and fellow club legend, Tim – held him back from truly learning about himself.
“I never really asked myself the question about who am I? Or what do I like? I was so focused on football and football was always what I knew and what I loved.
“That idea of self-discovery – that most people go through when they’re in their 20s – wasn’t something that I had opened myself up to.
“I give the advice to players that I speak to now that, if they can, I would give myself some time after the game to go and ask those questions.
“Who am I? What is it that I really love? If it’s six months, if it’s 12 months – whatever the time that they can allow themselves – to do that and go on a bit of a self-discovery to work out what it is that (they are) really passionate about.
“If they can find the answer to that then generally for their wellbeing and for their future, if you can find something that you’re passionate about it would lead you on a much more positive path than making decisions out of fear.”
His year-long ban and decision to hand in his Brownlow Medal from 2012 proved challenging for the three-time Crichton Medalist, but he said it proved to be an important time in his life.
“I learnt a lot about resilience and it taught me some really valuable lessons about life and what I was capable of.”
Watson will be one of 13 sliders plunging into an ice-cold pool at FightMND’s Big Freeze 5 at the MCG on Monday, throwing his support behind former Bomber Neale Daniher in his fight to find effective treatments and a cure for Motor Neuron Disease.
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