BEYOND THE DREAM

“I’ve grown so much in the past year just by getting outside of my comfort zone,” says Joe Hawley down the phone line. Just over a year ago, Hawley was finishing up an eight-year NFL career—the stuff of dreams for many teenagers—and wondering what was next for him.

Football had been good to Hawley—he’d been successful, earned good money, and he loved to play the game. But after almost a decade in the machine, the business side of things was taking its toll. He was ready to get out.

“I’m blessed that I was able to play football for a long time, and I gave it everything I had,” he says. “I had nothing left to give to the game—which