Last week while the Las Vegas Raiders were in Sarasota, Fla., preparing for the Jaguars, a trio of Raiders were in New York City preparing for next season.
Tackle Brandon Parker, linebacker Micah Kiser and undrafted rookie running back Sincere McCormick made a trip to the East Coast after the Raiders Player Engagement Department organized a visit to the NFL league office for players currently on injured reserve.
While at the office, they were able evaluate their future opportunities on and off the field, while meeting with multiple departments such as Sponsorship, Officiating, NextGen Stats, Player Engagement and Player Operations. Additionally, they had the chance to sit down with league representative and former Raider, Usama Young – who assisted the Raiders in coordinating the visit – and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
“As our players asked insightful questions that provided them with a deeper understanding of opportunities outside of football, it was amazing to see their lens for future opportunities widen in real time,” said DeAngelo Shears, player engagement coordinator for the team. “Although our trip was centered around understanding different careers and being prepared for life after football, it was awesome to see how all three guys were fully locked in to their rehab and are very inspired to come back healthy and help impact our organization.”
The trip was an eye opening experience for Brandon Parker. The offensive tackle, who’d like to pursue engineering after his playing career is over, is recovering an injury suffered in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in the preseason. The offensive tackle played all 17 games last season, and was an integral part of the team’s playoff push.