Pro surfers, NBA players and even an astronaut!?
Our players would pursue a range of vocations if their football careers didn't work out, as revealed in the annual AFL Players survey.
Sporting aspirations were a popular choice for many Crows.
Avid surfers Brad Crouch, Harrison Wigg, Harry Dear, Jonathon Beech and Nathan van Berlo would all spend their days chasing waves if they weren’t hunting the Sherrin. Surprisingly, Rory Sloane said he’d rather travel the world – but we’re sure he’d sneak in a surf or two along the way.
Jarryd Lyons is already a skilled golfer but would commit to the sport full-time if he wasn’t in football. Lyons has been swinging clubs since he was a toddler and plays off a handicap of just six. Paul Seedsman, Sam Shaw and Troy Menzel also hit the fairways regularly and would love to join the PGA tour.
Watch Jarryd Lyons go head-to-head with Don Pyke on the golf course
Eddie Betts, Kyle Cheney and Dean Gore reckon they’d try their hands at an NBA career if they weren’t in the AFL. Betts is a mad basketball fan and often heads to the courts with his son Lewis to cheer on the Adelaide 36ers.
Standing 172cm, Betts might be a little on the small side for a professional basketball career, but he certainly looks the part!
Luke Brown and Kyle Hartigan are more on the extreme side of the sporting spectrum. A regular on the river for a fish or a cruise, Brown reckons a wakeboarding career would be his calling if not for football. Hartigan would hit the half-pipe as a pro snowboarder.
Hardcore American sports fan Rory Laird rates his right arm and would like to be an NFL quarterback if he wasn’t an AFL footballer.
A couple of Crows would pick up a trade if they stepped away from the game.
Mitch Grigg already works as a landscaper on his days off and is keen to continue with the job once his football career is over, while Charlie Cameron would complete his mechanic’s apprenticeship such is his passion for cars and motorsports.
A few players picture themselves as medical professionals if not for their football pursuits.
Rookie ruckman Reilly O’Brien, who earned a near-perfect ATAR score and was accepted into a biomedicine degree before being drafted, would like to be a Doctor. Rory Atkins also reckons he’d cut it as a GP, but we’re not as convinced by his academic background…
Keenan Ramsey reckons working as an open-heart surgeon would be the way to go if he wasn’t a Crow.
Andy Otten believes there’s a career as a professional chess player waiting for him after footy, if that’s even a thing. He certainly has the ‘beard of wisdom’ to give it a good crack.
Defender Jake Lever’s love for animals means he’d want to be a zookeeper if he couldn’t cut it on the footy field.
Fellow backman Tom Doedee is shooting for the stars. Literally. The first-year defender would like to be an astronaut if he wasn’t blanketing opposition forwards.
