Julian Whigham: Life after the NFL

Story and picture by Teraiz Pitta

SYRACUSE- N.Y. – Julian Whigham’s name is not unfamiliar to the Syracuse community.

That’s because the West Palm Beach, Fla. native was a multi-year starting cornerback for Syracuse football from 2012-2015.

Following his senior year, he signed as an undrafted free agent with the Buffalo Bills. After a brief stint at rookie camp, Whigham then signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Shortly thereafter, he was cut.

"The NFL is a job," he says. "It is probably one of the hardest jobs in the world because you’re day-to-day. You’re not someone who’s guaranteed the next day."

With his football career behind him, Whigham says he knew he had a knack for articulating his ideas when it came to sports so he reached out to The SB Nation blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician hoping for a chance . 

“They were happy to have me,” Whigham said. “My role grew and grew and for me, the vision grew as well.”

Whigham hopes to land a job at a newspaper, magazine or in some form of broadcast. His background is in online print journalism, but he hopes his experience with collegiate and NFL football will help him succeed wherever his career takes him.

A transcription of my conversation with Julian Whigham is below and you can listen the audio version here as well.

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Interview Q&A with Julian Whigham

Q: I know you were on the football team, so why did you ultimately choose Syracuse over other schools?

A: They lucked out. They brought me up in the winter. I thought I was being strategic coming and scheduling my official visit at a time when it would be cold and I could actually see the weather up here first hand. I came up on January 20^th, it was thirty degrees and sunny. That never happens in Syracuse. Its always snowy, icy, cold, dark, grey. So they lucked out and I thought, “Oh, this must be one of the best places to live! This is nice. I can get with this.” The coach was like, yeah, yeah, that’s it, that’s what you want. And I’m like, okay, sure. Well they lucked out. I ended up committing and I’ve just been stuck here for the last four years.

Q: Was there anything specific in your life that actually helped keep you motivated as a student athlete?

A: The #1 goal for me as a student athlete was to get to the professional level. That part was always #1 so the motivation there was, you know, get to that next level and I wasn’t there yet, obviously. So you’re always constantly trying to build and get there yourself as a student. You know, for a while it took me awhile to find out where I wanted to go as far as academics and what kind of career path I wanted after the NFL. I had to figure it out pretty quickly when the NFL was done. But yeah, the motivation was always there. I always felt, you know, comfortable in what I wanted to do.

Q: Do you have a little bit more of a background about how your time in the NFL went? How was your experience?

A: It was incredible, you know. Just that short little time is more than what 99% of the world will ever get to experience. I went through camp. I went through an off-season. You know, I got to experience what it was like to be on a practice squad and feel what an NFL schedule is like. It’s tough, what they do to prepare and how they prepare. A lot of people, they see the game as a game. That is simply just something that children do and the NFL is not. The NFL is a job. It is probably one of the hardest jobs in the world because you’re day-to-day. You’re not someone who’s guaranteed the next day. You can get cut at any moment and that’s tough. It’s hard but it’s a lot of fun being competitive.

Q: I know your bio said you got your degree in political science, so what made you want to come to come to Newhouse and do broadcast journalism?

A: Once I got cut started trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my time, I decided to reach out to Nunes Magician. They covered Syracuse football around here and I always had a knack for articulating my ideas and talking about sports. So I thought, you know, let me give it a shot and see if they’ll take me on and they were happy to have me. I began doing defensive breakdowns with them. My role slowly grew and grew and for me, and the vision grew as well as what I thought I could do in the sports industry as far as communications. So that first started at Nunes Magician and just branched off from there. All the connections I’ve made throughout my career playing football, the media has helped a lot so I’m kind of starting to hit my stride now.

Q: Once you do get your degree, where do you hope you might end up?

A: I’m hoping to land either at a newspaper, a magazine or in some form of broadcast. I’m not entirely sure yet because I’m still new to this. Most of my background is in online print. Obviously my master’s is focused in broadcast so I would like to get there. I admire a lot of guys who are on TV speaking today. I like their style, I like the way they articulate their ideas so I would like to get to that point. But I know a lot of them have a print background, I’m not sure if there’s any type of blueprint to this thing but I’m trying to follow the one mapped out in my head as best as I can.