Former NFL player Ricardo Silva (Hampton University) now teaches high school

COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Similarities between NFL players and high school teachers might not seem numerous. However Ricardo Silva, who formerly played for the Detroit Lions and the Carolina Panthers, recently began a new job teaching geometry.

According to the Detroit Lions, Silva joined the Lions from 2011 to 2012 after graduating first team All-MEAC at Hampton University. Later, the football star became a free agent who played briefly for the Panthers in 2013.

Silva’s athletic career could have continued. Jobs playing football in Canada or coaching at a college were offered to him, The Washington Post reports.

Surprisingly, those alluring offers were turned down by Silva. Instead, he joined Teach for America, which is a corps of teachers striving to impact and improve the education of all children especially those in poverty. He is teaching 10th grade geometry at Ballou High School in Washington, D.C.

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