TAMPA, Fla. — On the second day of training camp, Tampa Bay Buccaneers center Ryan Jensen suffered a major knee injury.
He missed the entire regular season but overcame the career-threatening injury to return for the playoffs. His recovery time gave him a snapshot of what retirement could look like.
He’s not ready for that yet, but he is getting a head start on his post-football career.
“There’s a lot of doubt in the pain when you’re laying on the field, and you’re not sure what’s wrong with your knee, but you know it’s bad,” Jensen said. “There’s definitely some thought that this might be it. I might never play football again.”
It was 172 days from injury to a return to the field, snapping the ball to quarterback Tom Brady in a game for the first time this season.
“Almost every day, he was in there pushing me with small little comments, 'Hey, how ya doing? Let’s get going,'” Jensen said. “That gentle, competitive push.”
Like Brady’s off-the-field business ventures, Jensen has lined up a career in home-building as manager and co-owner of HGC Design Build with former Buccaneer Garrett Gilkey.
“Fully organic transition into this business,” Jensen said. “We were competing against each other, wanting to be the best offensive lineman in the country for Division II. One of these friendships was born out of disliking each other.”
Jensen is building a forever home in his home state of Colorado. His role with HGC is to spearhead the company’s expansion in Denver.
The offensive lineman, who is entering his 11th season, encourages other athletes to begin thinking about what is next in life when the game comes to an end.
“We’re at the pinnacle, top of the mountain at a very young age; by the time most of us get out, we’re in our early 30s,” he said. “We’ve already reached that pinnacle of life, that mountaintop. All of a sudden, that’s gone, and you’re back in the valley. You got to be ready to make that transition. Starting a couple of years in advance is important.”
