National Football League

Ex-NFL RB Rashard Mendenhall a writer for HBO show 'Ballers'

Published Jun. 24, 2015 7:21 p.m. ET

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The NFL world was caught by surprise when former running back Rashard Mendenhall suddenly announced his retirement following the 2013 season at the age of 26.

Mendenhall was a first-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2008. He played five seasons for the team before landing with the Arizona Cardinals to finish out his NFL career in 2013.

Mendenhall, who made approximately $13.8 million during his NFL career, joined the Writers Guild of America. He announced recently that he’s working as a writer for the HBO miniseries Ballers—a show that debuted on HBO this past weekend.

Ballers stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who plays an ex-NFL player turned financial advisor. The show has been largely compared to the HBO series Entourage.

Mendenhall reports that transitioning from playing football to becoming a writer has been easy because it’s something he has always wanted to do.

Completely changing career paths is something that is not always simple for football players. Mendenhall wrote a column for the Huffington Post last year in which he said it wasn’t an issue for him.

You’ve got to hand it to Mendenhall, who has his head screwed on straight at the young age of 28. He is part of a growing group of former NFL players who have retired before or at the age of 30 to pursue other interests and/or preserve their health. That group recently added Chris Borland, Anthony Davis, Jake Locker, Patrick Willis and Jason Worilds.

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