Ex-Professional Sports Stars Who Now Work Regular Jobs

In the 1980s, Tito Santana was going toe to toe with the likes of Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior in the WWF. In fact, along with Hogan, Santana is the only wrestler from the WWF's extensive roster who made an appearance at each of the first nine Wrestlemanias. He made his mark as a tag team champ all the way back in 1979 and also reigned as intercontinental champ for a spell as well, proving to be a fan favorite and a guy who could get through a match with Doink the Clown without feeling ashamed.

Santana's various gimmicks included El Matador and half of the Strike Force tag team with Rick Martel, and he was even immortalized in animated form in Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling cartoon.

After leaving the WWF and taking a spin on the independent wrestling circuit, Santana went back to living life as Merced Solis (his legal name) and semi-retired to New Jersey. According to ESPN, Solis currently teaches Spanish at a middle school in New Jersey, though he does make occasional ring appearances for special events. Maybe he bodyslams the odd kid who doesn't turn in their homework.

Vin Baker played in the NBA for 13 years and the Washington Post notes he appeared in four consecutive All-Star games. What should have been a remarkable success story took a bit of a left turn, however. Unfortunately, myriad personal problems plagued Baker, not the least of which was substance abuse. He told Boston's WBUR he played his first stoned game in 1996, smoking weed before the game and surprising himself by having the best outing of his career to that point. From there it was a rapid downhill spiral of substance abuse and financial irresponsibility. While he amassed a $100 million fortune, according to Forbes, he lost everything by the time he was done.

Baker managed to turn himself around on a physical level, getting clean and sober, but he was dead broke. He needed a way to support himself and those he cared about, so he called up Howard Schultz. Schultz, as owner of the SuperSonics, was his former boss. Schultz also happened to be the CEO of Starbucks. As Baker told Connecticut's WNPR, Schultz offered him a job at the coffee chain and he took it. Baker was given his green apron and started doling out lattes to make ends meet. It may not be as glamorous as life in the spotlight, but it's an honest day's work.

At the 2016 Summer Games, Maya DiRado took home two golds, a silver, and a bronze in swimming, putting her at the top of her game and positioning her to become a legend in the sport if she chose to pursuit it. The options for continuing on competitively, going into coaching or getting endorsement deals must have been plentiful. She'd competed at the collegiate level at Stanford University, and in various mid-level games for several years before qualifying for the games in Rio, so it seemed as though chlorine might be in her blood. But hey, things happen.

Prior to the Olympics, DiRado and her husband, also a swimmer, had purchased a home in Atlanta where they'd planned to settle down. As mentioned in a Washington Post profile, she'd already been offered a job as a business analyst with McKinsey and Co. as well thanks to her degree in management science and engineering. As far as swimming went, she'd accomplished the goals she wanted to accomplish and that was enough for her. Now she probably just smokes people at the public pool on weekends and spends the rest of her time taking it easy.

Back in 1972, LaRue Martin was at the top of his game and the biggest prospect in the NBA. He was taken first overall in the draft by the Portland Trailblazers, so this guy was on the money. But once he was in the big time, things didn't go as planned for the Loyola star. The New York Post notes he averaged just 5.3 points in 14 minutes per game in four seasons, pretty much the opposite of what you want a first round pick to be doing. He blames it on not getting enough playing time, while others thought he just couldn't cut it, but it doesn't matter anymore. His career was a little lackluster, something he readily admits, but past is past and he still needed to provide for his family.

After he left the game he snagged a job with UPS. As he told Northwest University's Medhill Reports, he started from the bottom, driving a delivery truck and learning that UPS didn't hand out a lot of its brown uniforms to 7-footers like him. From there he worked his way up to Illinois district public affairs and community services manager where he's praised for his work ethic and the positive impact he's had on the company.

With 23,177 points, six-time NBA All-Star and Hall of Famer Adrian Dantley was ninth on the all-time scoring list at the time of his retirement. A machine when it came to free throws, owing to an uncanny knack for getting fouled like people were out to get him, Dantley routinely averaged over 30 points a game during his heyday.

Unfortunately, a couple serious injuries slowed his pace, and after 15 years in the game he retired following his recovery from a broken fibula that had sidelined him for an entire year, according to NBA.com.

Dantley pursued coaching for a few years and then, in 2013, the Washington Post reported he was working as a crossing guard in Silver Springs for $14,000 a year. Of course, the story wasn't what other outlets made it out to be — Dantley wasn't in dire financial straits, he was just trying to be a good citizen. He likes working in his community and likes helping kids, so it fit into his routine and gives him a lot of time off. No weekend work and a summer vacation ... what's not to love?

Now, it's not that we think Homer Bush, who played six MLB seasons and won a World Series with the Yankees, isn't a trustworthy guy. We have no real reason to believe he might not be the sort of stand-up dude who would give you excellent advice about how to spend and/or invest your hard-earned cash. But you should also be aware that athletes don't exactly have a reputation for being careful with money. According to financial planner and author Don Padilla, up to 78 percent of NFL players and roughly 60 percent of NBA players will eventually file for bankruptcy. He claims that "a large percentage" of MBA players end up in the same boat, but perhaps Homer Bush isn't and won't ever be a part of that statistic.

In 2012, Bush was featured on an ESPN special entitled "Broke," and the film seemed to imply that he was one of the many athletes who end up bankrupt at the end of a successful sports career. But Bush told the Sun Sentinel that the implication "could not be further from the truth." He went on to explain that he'd appeared on the show because he had successfully transitioned from baseball to financial advising and was hoping he could give viewers some insight on the topic of bankrupt former star athletes.

Bush's LinkedIn page says he's an author, speaker, and hitting coach, though, so maybe financial advising didn't really turn out to be his thing.

If you've ever thought to yourself, "Dang, I sure wish I could just give up the rat race and spend the rest of my life fishing," well, you might want to make MLB All-Star and 1990 World Series-winning pitcher Norm Charlton your personal role model. "I'm a baseball player, I'm not a businessman," he told one interviewer in 2015. "I had the talent and I worked hard to be able to play baseball, but I saw no reason ever for me to wear a suit." So when Charlton retired, he didn't look for a job as a baseball commentator or a sports agent or any of those other stereotypical post-retirement jobs that former pros often gravitate toward. Instead, he started a business he calls "Norm Charlton's Big League Adventures," and now he spends all his time sitting around on a fishing boat talking about the good ol' days with people who either paid him for the fishing or paid to listen to him talk about the good ol' days, or maybe a little bit of both.

According to Sports Illustrated, Charlton lives in Rockport, Texas, and he takes vacationers "big game fishing" in the Gulf of Mexico. His boat goes out every morning at 6 a.m. If you don't mind the early start, it sounds like a pretty good life for a retiree.

Kerri Strug's performance at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics was iconic and unforgettable. After her teammate Monique Moceanu failed both her vault attempts, the gold medal that seemed so certain only a short time before was at risk of slipping through their fingers. Dramatic!

Strug's first vault jump was not good, and she injured her ankle badly, as she told Huffington Post in 2015. But not making a second attempt would mean forfeiting to the Russians, so on a painful ankle she went all out and nailed it. Her landing was picture perfect and she sealed the victory for Team USA, becoming an instant hero in many people's eyes. Her coach had to carry her to the podium to accept the gold as she was unable to walk by that point, her leg already wrapped and in a giant splint.

After the Olympics, Strug went to college, first UCLA and later Stanford where she earned a degree in sociology. After spending some time working as a second-grade teacher, she moved on to government work and is now listed as a grant manager at the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.