Don’t know if we have a new Jets thread yet but I want to congratulate D’Brick for graduating Thomas Jefferson nursing program.
He’s a full time nurse.
He’s a full time nurse.
Every Seat on this Jet is HOT! The NYJ 2024 Thread
- Thread starter Starman
- Start date
Here’s the article about Ferguson transitioning into medicine (His grandmother and mother were nurses)
THE 6-foot-6, 240-pound former NFL offensive lineman found some anonymity while wearing bright turquoise scrubs.
“I think I was able to hide in plain sight,” D’Brickashaw Ferguson said of his two years in Thomas Jefferson University’s nursing program in Philadelphia.
A decade after he retired as a football player, Ferguson, 41, is wearing a less recognizable uniform. The 2006 University of Virginia alumnus – and three-time Pro Bowler with the New York Jets – officially begins his nursing career this fall at a New Jersey hospital after completing his degree from Jefferson in May, ending a long search for his life’s next chapter.
He tried his hand as a writer, dabbled in finance, and even considered becoming a sports agent, but rarely felt qualified enough to commit – until an internship with the Jets’ strength and conditioning team revealed a career path that finally felt right.
Ferguson, alongside then-NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, celebrates being taken fourth overall in the 2006 Draft by the New York Jets. The UVA star went on to make three Pro Bowls, never missing a start in his 10 seasons with the team. (Virginia Athletics photo)
While reluctant to working long hours again in sports, Ferguson, a father, was open to testing the medical field and following the path of his mother and grandmother, both nurses.
“I had transitional skills, like working hard and being diligent,” said Ferguson, a religious studies major and two-time first-team All-ACC performer at UVA. “And my mother told me, ‘This is a profession where there’s a lot of opportunity. You can really explore all of health care (as a nurse).’”
So, in his mid-30s, Ferguson went back to school – first, a community college in Pennsylvania to complete prerequisites, and then enrolling at Jefferson in the fall of 2023.
“I didn’t skip any steps,” he said. “I had to do all the little steps to get there. It felt good because I felt like I was earning it.”
Ferguson’s classmates, some barely removed from high school, were likely too young to recognize him from his football career, though his mere presence invited questions. The fourth overall pick of the 2006 NFL Draft has lost 70 pounds since his last game with the Jets.
“People were like, ‘Man you’re tall,’ and wondered if I played basketball,” Ferguson said with a laugh. “And I would just politely say, ‘No, I never played basketball,’ and keep moving.”
Ferguson tried his best to keep a low profile as a nursing student. Upon interviewing for an externship position in Jefferson Hospital’s cardiac intensive care unit last summer, he didn’t submit his resume until after presenting in front of nurse manager Courtney Beebe.
Beebe learned the personal reason why he wanted to work in her unit – at 9, Ferguson had open heart surgery to repair a defect that threatened his future playing contact sports – before reading about his prior work history.
“The next day,” Beebe said. “I got an email from him, which had the resume, and I realized probably why he didn’t share that (his NFL career) with everybody. He wanted to be accepted into the role just based off his interest in the position.
“I was impressed with him from the jump.”
Ferguson takes a break from his externship at Jefferson Hospital to chat with rapid response nurse Redi Lamce. As part of his summer in Jefferson’s cardiac ICU, Ferguson shadowed Lamce. (Contributed photo)
Ferguson secured the externship and spent 10 weeks in the cardiac ICU, either assisting nurses in a tech role or generally shadowing them as they worked in what Bebee calls a “very tough environment.”
“Being a nurse, it’s a humbling experience because these patients are at their worst,” she said. “But I watched, over the course of the summer, D’Brickashaw really build his confidence. He did a really good job adjusting to dealing with patients who are in high-stress situations.”
Ferguson became an asset for Bebee’s staff.
“When patients have surgery, we’ll be like, ‘I understand,’ but we really don’t because we don’t understand what it feels like to have chest tubes or have that surgical pain like they do,” she said. “He could relate to them from what he went through as a child. And that gave him something the other nurses didn’t have.”
Ferguson smiles alongside his mother, Rhunette, at the pinning ceremony for Jefferson’s Class of 2025 nursing graduates. Rhunette, a nurse herself, inspired her son’s journey to nursing school. (Contributed photo)
That wasn’t Ferguson’s only role that came with a unique platform while studying nursing. At home, he had a natural way to encourage his daughters – 10-year-old Eden and 8-year-old Emery – to do their homework.
Dad, too, was hitting the books.
“If I’m telling my daughters to study, I’m studying with them,” he said. “‘We’re going to go to the library.’ It’s not like, ‘Hey, go study. I’m going to go and do what I want to do.’ No, we’re all going to do it.
“I think it did allow us to work on that collectively. And they saw the process from being in school to studying to graduating, so it was like a full-circle moment.”
THE 6-foot-6, 240-pound former NFL offensive lineman found some anonymity while wearing bright turquoise scrubs.
“I think I was able to hide in plain sight,” D’Brickashaw Ferguson said of his two years in Thomas Jefferson University’s nursing program in Philadelphia.
A decade after he retired as a football player, Ferguson, 41, is wearing a less recognizable uniform. The 2006 University of Virginia alumnus – and three-time Pro Bowler with the New York Jets – officially begins his nursing career this fall at a New Jersey hospital after completing his degree from Jefferson in May, ending a long search for his life’s next chapter.
He tried his hand as a writer, dabbled in finance, and even considered becoming a sports agent, but rarely felt qualified enough to commit – until an internship with the Jets’ strength and conditioning team revealed a career path that finally felt right.
Ferguson, alongside then-NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, celebrates being taken fourth overall in the 2006 Draft by the New York Jets. The UVA star went on to make three Pro Bowls, never missing a start in his 10 seasons with the team. (Virginia Athletics photo)
While reluctant to working long hours again in sports, Ferguson, a father, was open to testing the medical field and following the path of his mother and grandmother, both nurses.
“I had transitional skills, like working hard and being diligent,” said Ferguson, a religious studies major and two-time first-team All-ACC performer at UVA. “And my mother told me, ‘This is a profession where there’s a lot of opportunity. You can really explore all of health care (as a nurse).’”
So, in his mid-30s, Ferguson went back to school – first, a community college in Pennsylvania to complete prerequisites, and then enrolling at Jefferson in the fall of 2023.
“I didn’t skip any steps,” he said. “I had to do all the little steps to get there. It felt good because I felt like I was earning it.”
Ferguson’s classmates, some barely removed from high school, were likely too young to recognize him from his football career, though his mere presence invited questions. The fourth overall pick of the 2006 NFL Draft has lost 70 pounds since his last game with the Jets.
“People were like, ‘Man you’re tall,’ and wondered if I played basketball,” Ferguson said with a laugh. “And I would just politely say, ‘No, I never played basketball,’ and keep moving.”
Ferguson tried his best to keep a low profile as a nursing student. Upon interviewing for an externship position in Jefferson Hospital’s cardiac intensive care unit last summer, he didn’t submit his resume until after presenting in front of nurse manager Courtney Beebe.
Beebe learned the personal reason why he wanted to work in her unit – at 9, Ferguson had open heart surgery to repair a defect that threatened his future playing contact sports – before reading about his prior work history.
“The next day,” Beebe said. “I got an email from him, which had the resume, and I realized probably why he didn’t share that (his NFL career) with everybody. He wanted to be accepted into the role just based off his interest in the position.
“I was impressed with him from the jump.”
Ferguson takes a break from his externship at Jefferson Hospital to chat with rapid response nurse Redi Lamce. As part of his summer in Jefferson’s cardiac ICU, Ferguson shadowed Lamce. (Contributed photo)
Ferguson secured the externship and spent 10 weeks in the cardiac ICU, either assisting nurses in a tech role or generally shadowing them as they worked in what Bebee calls a “very tough environment.”
“Being a nurse, it’s a humbling experience because these patients are at their worst,” she said. “But I watched, over the course of the summer, D’Brickashaw really build his confidence. He did a really good job adjusting to dealing with patients who are in high-stress situations.”
Ferguson became an asset for Bebee’s staff.
“When patients have surgery, we’ll be like, ‘I understand,’ but we really don’t because we don’t understand what it feels like to have chest tubes or have that surgical pain like they do,” she said. “He could relate to them from what he went through as a child. And that gave him something the other nurses didn’t have.”
Ferguson smiles alongside his mother, Rhunette, at the pinning ceremony for Jefferson’s Class of 2025 nursing graduates. Rhunette, a nurse herself, inspired her son’s journey to nursing school. (Contributed photo)
That wasn’t Ferguson’s only role that came with a unique platform while studying nursing. At home, he had a natural way to encourage his daughters – 10-year-old Eden and 8-year-old Emery – to do their homework.
Dad, too, was hitting the books.
“If I’m telling my daughters to study, I’m studying with them,” he said. “‘We’re going to go to the library.’ It’s not like, ‘Hey, go study. I’m going to go and do what I want to do.’ No, we’re all going to do it.
“I think it did allow us to work on that collectively. And they saw the process from being in school to studying to graduating, so it was like a full-circle moment.”
#70 was the right pick
He did a nice job on that completion to #16
Braelon Allen is a monster
He did a nice job on that completion to #16
Braelon Allen is a monster
Cmon man
I spoke too soon
I spoke too soon
NYC Rebel
...on the otherside of the pond
Box Factory
hater
I still believe in him
NYC Rebel
...on the otherside of the pond
Has zero moves. Just runs to the obvious. Not an NFL back
Box Factory
hater
Valuable skill on a good team with good coaches
tremonthustler1
aka bx_representer
NGL, I've had this game on in the background.
The Jets are very much the Nets if the Nets had some stars on it.
It's all about Glenn this year. Even if the Jets are ass, it's all about whether Glenn can coach and instill what he wants out of his players as men. If he's the Jordi Fernandez of the NFL, then Mougey knows what talent to get and then maybe they can go places. Him benching Clemons was funny.
I'm handcuffing Braelon Allen in any draft I do this year. I kinda wanna see him as the lead bell cow.
NYC Rebel
...on the otherside of the pond
Is that a quality that is unique to him?
Box Factory
hater
I thought so at one point, but haven't watched him continuously since the miracle last year at Pitt
I can't blame him for the way the Jets fail to conduct their business, ya know?
