MANILA, Philippines - On the field, on the ice, in the cage or behind the wheel, everybody knows the sports professional athletes play.
But what about all the jobs that go on behind the scenes in sports? What are they? What does it take to do them? Who are the people and how hard is the work in the real-life of sports? All-Pro linebacker Junior Seau is about to find out.
Seau, a 19-year veteran of the National Football League, checks in on a different sport each episode airing on Solar Sports this month. Trading in his helmet and pads, he tries not the athletic activity but the often under-appreciated and sometimes thankless but extremely important jobs across the entire sports world that make the games possible.
In the new series Sports Jobs, NFL legend Junior Seau searches for the coolest, dirtiest and most fascinating behind-the-scenes jobs in sports. Whether he’s working as a pit-crew member for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon or as a corner man for UFC’s Forrest Griffin, Seau gets beat up, worn down, well-schooled and super-trained… all in an effort to find out just how tough you have to be to work in sports.
Other jobs include a ball boy and batboy for the Los Angeles Dodgers; a construction worker for the new stadium for the New York Giants and Jets; an equipment manager for NHL’s Washington Capitals; a member of the arena conversion crew at TD Bank Garden, where the Boston Bruins and Celtics play; a caddy for LPGA’s Natalie Gulbis; and much more.
This is the first show that gives fans a look at the people who make the games possible. These guys don’t get the fame and recognition but they are just as talented and compelling as the players and they have just as much pride in their work
Watch Sports Jobs on Solar Sports Mondays at 11 a.m. and 9 p.m.; Wednesdays, 2 p.m.; Fridays, 9 p.m.; and Saturdays, 1 a.m.