Gold Jacket Spotlight: Richard Seymour stokes competitive fire in second, third careers

Ask any football fan what “NFL” stands for and you’ll hear the correct response: “National Football League.” Ask current or former players, however, and they might respond: “Not For Long.”

According to the NFL Players Association, the average pro career lasts 3.3 years. This reality leaves most players wondering what they will do when their playing days end.

While the league provides such resources to aid with these transitions as the NFL Transition Coach Program or the NFL Player Care Foundation, each player ultimately faces the major decision about how he will embark on life after football.

Hall of Famer RICHARD SEYMOUR is blazing his own trail in retirement, and that path is the focus of this week’s Gold Jacket Spotlight.

When Richard, a seven-time Pro Bowler, retired after the 2012 NFL season, he still felt a hunger to compete. Enter the game of poker.

“I really get to compete from a mental intelligence standpoint,” Seymour told ESPN. “I am fascinated with poker and really enjoy the game.”

Richard’s fascination with poker should not be misconstrued as a simple hobby. It certainly scratches that competitive itch, but Richard has attained true professional status.

According to the World Series of Poker, his career earnings exceed $160,000, and twice he has participated in the No-Limit Hold’em World Championship event in Las Vegas. Both times he finished as one of the top 300 players in the world.

“Poker pulls so much from you and has direct parallels to football,” he said. “You have to be thoroughly prepared every day and be able to adjust quickly during the game. I also think you need to be poised in all situations.”

The pressure of playing in front of thousands of fans on a Sunday has prepared Richard for the challenges of sitting at the poker table with some of the best players in the world.

Poker is not the only thing that keeps Richard busy in retirement. Recently, he joined former teammate Tom Brady in purchasing a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders. With the investments, they became only the fifth and sixth former NFL players to secure an ownership stake with an NFL club.

“This is a mission of a lifetime, and I accept it with both purpose and pride, with great opportunity comes great responsibility,” Richard posted on X when his ownership stake was announced.

Speaking about his minority ownership stake to Sibley Scoles on “Raiders: Talk of the Nation,” Richard called it “a milestone achievement.”

“Milestone achievement” or “mission of a lifetime” are fitting descriptions, because this dream began while Richard was playing in the league.

“I remember seeing owners with their families and kids running up and down the sideline, and I remember thinking of how cool it would be for you and your family to have that opportunity,” he said.

Mission accomplished.

Richard said he’s not satisfied with the title of minority owner. Those competitive juices that fueled his Hall of Fame career and professional poker accomplishments drive him in his ownership role. 

“At the end of the day I bring it back to wanting to win, and you want to build a winner,” he said.

Now Hall of Famer No. 360 will have the opportunity to help turn the Silver and Black back into consistent winners.

Whether playing the game of football, a hand of poker or now in ownership, know that Richard is not bluffing. He always has demonstrated his intentions clearly: Do whatever it takes to win — and stay on top.