NFL Players Study Business at Kellogg School of Management During the Off-Season
NFL Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program Teaches Skills for the Game of Life
WHAT: 2009 NFL Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University welcomes 19 NFL players to the fifth annual NFL Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program. Acknowledging that the average NFL career is between three to four years, the NFL and NFL Players Association began offering executive education programs to qualified players interested in expanding their business acumen for life after football. During the four-day session, Kellogg School professors will teach sessions on relevant business topics, including investing, business leadership, negotiations and marketing. This is the fourth consecutive year the NFL has partnered with Kellogg to offer
the program.
WHO: Professor Steve Rogers is a clinical professor of finance and management at the Kellogg School of Management. Professor Rogers is the founder and the academic director for the NFL Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program at Kellogg. He is a widely-known expert in the areas of entrepreneurial finance, minority business issues, small business management, venture capital and private equity.
NFL players scheduled to attend include:
Brady Quinn, quarterback, Cleveland Browns Benjamin Watson, tight end, New England Patriots Rick Mirer, former Chicago Bears quarterback and 2008 inductee into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame Ryan Diem, offensive tackle, Indianapolis Colts, Northern Illinois University, Glenbard North High School Andrew Studebaker, defensive end, Kansas City Chiefs, Wheaton College, Eureka, Ill. native Rob Ninkovich, New Orleans Saints, Purdue University, New Lenox, Ill. native
WHERE: The Kellogg School of Management
James L. Allen Center
2169 North Campus Drive
Evanston, IL 60208
Closed to public. Open to media by appointment only.
WHEN: The NFL Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program runs from Sunday, March 1, through Wednesday, March 4. Media schedule on Tuesday, March 3, is as follows:
11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Steve Rogers interviews, player interviews, classroom camera shots Interviews requested outside these times will be scheduled on a case by case basis.
Source: Kellogg School of Management
Football Making National Debut
First Base Sports, developer of the sensational training football that is being tested for off-season use by the Denver Broncos and is currently helping quarterbacks and receivers at established collegiate programs such as the University of Wisconsin and the University of Mississippi, announced it has altered the size of its football for the benefit of young athletes and is now offering the innovative product in a national television advertising campaign.
Great for serious training or simply for fun, the Passback football is making its infomercial debut on one of the leading cable and internet service providers in the nation in Comcast. The 60-second commercial features the junior football for children ages 6-12 and will air on Versus, Toon Disney and Discovery Kids over the next several months. The game of football has never seen anything like it! And now, viewers will get the same chance to see how innovation can make playing pass-and-catch a one-man game!
“At 8 years old, everyone is a potential quarterback and everyone is a potential receiver,” said Mark J. Shutey, president of First Base Sports LLC.
The Passback football, a one of a kind training and learning tool, has revolutionized the skill of playing catch. It is the first and only football that rebounds and spirals back to the passer. There are no strings attached, and you can throw and catch when no one is around.
Perfect for training, the Passback football improves passing accuracy, hand-eye coordination and strengthens a quarterback’s throwing muscles. Receivers get up to 20 repetitions per minute without a quarterback or expensive equipment.
The larger, adult football is being tested for off-season use by the Broncos and is an accepted staple with numerous colleges, high schools and sports camps nationally.
“I do see a stabilizing muscle building element for wrists, elbows, and shoulders by doing high, repetitive, thoughtless reps…especially when a quarterback can’t find someone to throw with, which is often,” said Steven Gregory, founder and head coach of Blue Chip Quarterback Farm in Naperville, IL.
The Passback football (www.passbackfootball.com) is marketed by First Base Sports Group LLC, a Montana Limited Liability Company. Founding members include former NFL and University of Washington All-American Steven Emtman, the top pick in the 1992 NFL Draft by Indianapolis.
The junior football sells for $19.95. Call 1-800-657-5235 to order or visit www.buypassback.com
Source: First Base Sports
VAP Test Demonstrates Value of Fish Oil in Reducing Heart Risk for Super Bowl Champs
Advanced cholesterol test helps usher in new era of specialized test for cardiac risk assessment
For the Pittsburgh Steelers, adding a heart-healthy supplement to their diet may have given them the boost to win Super Bowl XLIII. That’s according to a clinical study proving that fish oils dramatically improve cholesterol levels in professional football players. Findings were published January in the inaugural issue of Sports Health: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach.
The two-year study titled Evaluation of Lipid Profiles and the Use of Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acid in Professional Football Players evaluated 36 professional NFL football players, ages 23 to 41, from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Researchers assessed emerging cardiovascular risk factors, as found in the specialized VAP(R) Cholesterol Test, to determine whether omega-3 EFAs (essential fatty acids) found in fish oil can reduce these factors.
During a two month period of the regular 2006-2007 football season, each participant in the treatment group was given 2,560 mg/day of mixed EPA/DHA omega-3 fatty acid supplements in the form of fish oil soft gels.
Results showed that the omega-3 oil raised the athletes’ high-density lipoproteins (HDL–good cholesterol) and lowered triglycerides and other atherogenic subfractions. Elevated levels of triglycerides are associated with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. These results suggest a strong benefit for lessening heart disease risk factors in football players and possibly other athletes throughout their active years, study authors said.
Measurement of emerging clinical and lipid risk factors in the study was done with the VAP (Vertical Auto Profile) Cholesterol Test from Atherotech, Inc. Such detailed cholesterol profiling has the ability to more accurately identify parents’ true risk of heart disease, allowing for treatment and lifestyle changes that can decrease the risk of a heart attack or stroke.
“We are now entering a new era of cardiac risk assessment,” the study stated. “Newer specialized blood tests can fractionate blood lipids into many component molecules in order to better assess which lipid subfraction may possess a greater risk for causing disease.”
The VAP Test, which is covered by most insurance providers and Medicare, provides physicians with direct measurement of LDL (bad cholesterol), HDL and all relevant cholesterol subclasses. These important but often overlooked subclasses include non-HDL, particle number as determined by accurate apoB, and emerging risk factors such as Lp(a), low-density lipoprotein remnants and small dense LDL.
Team Neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers for the past 25 years and study co-author, Dr. Joseph Maroon, said the VAP Test identifies cardiovascular risks that a routine cholesterol test cannot. By using a subfraction cholesterol test (VAP test), therapeutic interventions can now be directed to specific and more potentially dangerous forms of cholesterol than the traditional total or “bad” cholesterols that have been targeted in the past, said Maroon, who also serves as vice chairman of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
A number of factors can put athletes at increased risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity, which may also lead to metabolic syndrome, a precursor to diabetes–all which point to heart disease.
“The professional football player statistically is at increased risk for future cardiovascular disease and sudden heart attack,” Atherotech’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. James Ehrlich said. “This study thoroughly demonstrates that fish oil improved good cholesterol and lowered damaging particles and triglycerides.”
The VAP Test is also the only commercially available advanced lipid profile that routinely reports all three lipoprotein parameters — LDL, non-HDL and apoB — considered necessary by the 2008 expert consensus guidelines issued by the American Diabetes Association and American College of Cardiology.
People with a family history or an existing condition of diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease — or who are already taking cholesterol-lowering medication — are candidates for the comprehensive VAP Test. The VAP Test is available nationwide. For more information call 877.901.8510 or visit www.thevaptest.com. The Sports Heath: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach study may be found at http://sph.sagepub.com/content/1/1/21.full.
Governor Rendell Announces Winner of Biggest Pittsburgh Steelers Fan Contest
More Than 1,300 Essays Were Submitted in Online Contest
Governor Edward G. Rendell, along with Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II, announced that Cole Hughes of Pittsburgh was selected as the grand prize winner out of more than 1,300 entries submitted in the “Why I Love the Pittsburgh Steelers” essay contest.
The contest stemmed from a wager between Governor Rendell and Arizona Governor Janice Brewer on the outcome of the Super Bowl. Under it, the state with the losing team had to offer a three-day vacation to a resident of the state with the winning team. Accommodations, meals and tickets to the different venues included in each vacation package were donated by the respective companies, organizations and venues.
No taxpayer dollars were used to fund any prizes.
“I was thrilled with the essays we received; some were very clever while others were filled with emotion,” Governor Rendell said. “The loyalty expressed by fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers is unprecedented and it is clear there are no borders to the Steeler Nation.”
Hughes will receive roundtrip airfare to Phoenix via US Airways; three nights at the Wigwam Golf Resort and Spa, a luxurious and renowned Arizona landmark; two rounds of golf on any of the resort’s three, 18-hole championship golf courses; dinner for two at one of the city’s finest restaurants; and two seats at a regular season home game of one of Arizona’s major league sports teams. The Steelers have also contributed Super Bowl T-shirts and hats for Hughes.
“Cole’s essay described how, as a 13-year-old, he insisted his father take the only ticket available to watch the 1972 AFC Championship Game acting on a lesson his father had taught him – to think of others before you think of yourself,” Governor Rendell said. “This memory and his devotion to the Steelers began before the team’s first Super Bowl victory and has only grown stronger with six championships to celebrate.”
The essay contest semi-finalists are as follows:
- First runner-up: Amie Shannan, Mars, Pa.
- Second runner-up: Jessica Kruise, Mechanicsburg, Pa.
- Third runner-up: Maggie McGuigan, Wexford, Pa.
- Fourth runner-up: Lisa Loftis, Oakdale, Pa.
All semi-finalists will receive two tickets to an upcoming regular season Pittsburgh Steelers home game. The first and second runner up also will receive weekend accommodations in the Pocono Mountains courtesy of the Hotel Fauchere in Milford.
“After reading the essays, I wanted to award the first and second runners-up with a weekend in the Pocono Mountains,” Governor Rendell said. “Due to the generosity of the Hotel Frauchere, they will be treated to first class accommodations and dining at this historic hotel in downtown Milford.”
The essays were judged by a panel comprised of five members of the Pennsylvania State Police with Governor Rendell making the final selections.
The Rendell administration is committed to creating a first-rate public education system, protecting our most vulnerable citizens and continuing economic investment to support our communities and businesses. To find out more about Governor Rendell’s initiatives and to sign up for his weekly newsletter, visit his Web site at: www.governor.state.pa.us.
Source: Pennsylvania Office of the Governor