3 Famous Athletes and their Surprising Jobs

Nobody is born a sports star. While genetics and the right environment might predestine some to become famous athletes, and some also have an innate talent to run, pitch, and strike, it takes a lot of work to grow from nobody to a famous sports personality. Before sports becoming their life (and their main source of income), people have to make a living one way or another. And not all of them become one of these six absolutely fabulous acrobats that will definitely help you get fit for the summer. 

So, many famous athletes have to take jobs that have little to do with their sports career to sustain themselves – and sometimes, these jobs are a bit strange, weird, or surprising. Like in the case of the athletes below.

Richie Hebner

Richard Joseph “Richie” Hebner is currently employed as the batting coach for the Buffalo Bisons. Before, he was an MLB third baseman, priding himself with 203 home runs during his career. And in the offseason, he dug graves in a cemetery run by his family.

“My grandfather had it first, and then my father had it, and then my brother took it over — I dug graves for 35 years with a pick and shovel,” Hebner told the press. “I don’t know if a lot of people believed it because I was in the big leagues, but back then you didn’t make the money they are making now. You give a shovel to a guy in the big leagues now, and they will laugh at you. But I enjoyed it, and it didn’t bother me. I’m not afraid to work.”

Sean Avery

Sean Christopher Avery played left wing for the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Stars and New York Rangers during his career, and he was known for his agitating playing style and controversial behavior on the ice. His behavior was equally controversial off the rink, too, which is reflected by a number of jobs he took over the years.

Among them, there’s an internship at the fashion magazine Vogue, spending the summer of 2008 guest-editing mensvogue.com. The next year, he presented a clothing line at the New York City Fashion Week for men’s fashion label Commonwealth Utilities. After retiring from NHL, Avery has been hired by NYC creative agency Lippman – he was appointed to work as Chief Strategic Officer and helped develop strategies for a number of the agency’s clients. He also did some modeling – he was the face of Hickey Freeman’s Spring/Summer 2012 ad campaign, and participated in 7FAM’s ad campaign in the coming year.

Lanni Marchant

While those participating in team sports have a clear season (and off-season) period, for those involved with other sports, like running, their schedule is not that clear. Thus, you might wonder what long-distance runners, for example, do in their spare time. Well, for Lanni Marchant, holder of a Canadian women’s marathon record of 2 hours and 28 minutes, the choice was simple: she is a lawyer.

Marchant studied law at Michigan State University, where she also ran, and after her graduation, she used her skills to make a living. Currently, she is a practicing criminal defense attorney for a law firm in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she lives with her family.