The average length of a player’s career in the NFL is 3.3 years. Frostee Rucker beat that average by almost a full ten years. It’s pretty amazing that Rucker spent 13 years in the league when you consider the fact that he spent most of those years coming off of the bench.
Rucker, whose thirteen seasons included stints with the Bengals, Browns, Cardinals and Raiders, spoke on a GameChange Livestream Forum about how he was able to stay in the NFL much longer than many of the guys who started ahead of him. So, how did he do it?
He added value.
Adding value on an NFL roster can mean a lot of things, but one very simple thing is to be prepared to play any position that is needed, at any time, especially on special teams. Rucker discussed his versatility. “Sometimes people are like, ‘What position did you play?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, on paper, I played defensive end or defensive tackle, but truly I played tight end on field goal. I played L3 on punt return. I was in the wedge. I did everything.’”
Adding value is an important lesson for young athletes to learn (or really anyone who wants to stay employed.) Why? Think about it. Pretty much all the players trying out for the high school varsity team were all-stars in middle school — and most athletes on a college team were the best players on their high school teams. And it is the same for athletes making the jump from college to pro.
Rucker perfectly explained what a lot of athletes miss when they are stepping up to compete at the next level, where everyone is just as good as they are. “People don’t understand that there’s only so many roster spots, so you have to stand out somewhere.”
The biggest “somewhere” is to add value where its either needed most or very difficult to replicate. At a job, you need to make it impossible to get fired because the value you bring is irreplaceable. Many high-level executives started out as lowly assistants who first got noticed because they made the lives of their bosses much easier by doing whatever needed to get done, even the unglamorous things – especially the unglamorous things!
On a team, adding value often comes down to consistently doing the little things that make you valuable in ways that coaches feel confident that they can rely on. In football, are you willing to play special teams, like Rucker did? In baseball, can you play several positions so that if any player gets injured the coach has several subs wrapped up into one player? In basketball, do you play defense so well that the coach knows he can put you on the other team’s best player, or insert you in at the end of the game when your team needs a stop?
The question really comes down to one thing; How important is it to you to be on the team? Do you love playing so much that you will gladly accept whatever role comes your way? Rucker stated, “Hey, anything you give me, I’m going to do and I’m not going to pout about it.” That is the answer to why he outlasted so many guys in the NFL. Rucker added value.
