12 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED
Akin Ayodele was on cam-
pus the weekend of Sept.
19, both as part of Purdue's
celebration of its 2000 Rose
Bowl team and to accept an ac-
ademic award on campus.
We caught up with the former Boiler-
maker and retired NFL linebacker during
a stop on his busy schedule.
Q. How do you view the NFL expe-
rience? How much do you miss it?
Ayodele: "My whole career I couldn't
have written up a better script. I was one
of those guys who always gave every-
thing I had, in that I have absolutely no
regrets. We all have goals that we want to
reach, and I would say I reached most of
my goals. And from a talent standpoint,
I maximized whatever little talent I had
already. So I'm completely fulfilled with
my time, tenure in the NFL."
Q. What was your experience like
on campus?
Ayodele: "It was really cool, I think it
was a big deal. I received the Emerging
Voice Award for the Liberal Arts depart-
ment. Ninety percent of my accolades
are not sports-related, so I felt like that's
a pretty big deal that they recog-
nized me for that. Two other
recipients that are in their
field are top
notch, so to be part
of that was pretty
cool."
Q. What is going to
keep you busy over the
next period of time?
Ayodele: "My foundation
(Dreambuilders), and I also
do speaking tours. Right before I
ended my career I went back and got
my (MBA) from George Washington
University. I focus a lot of my time now in
several different investments where I'm
very actively involved. I'm part of a (ven-
ture capital) group and we deal with a
lot of startups. Understanding that world
has been fun for me and something new.
I always knew while I was playing that
I would probably go into the business
world, but what it looked like I couldn't
tell you at that time. Now, I'm starting to
shape what it does look like. To have that
opportunity has been a blessing."
Q: What's your advice to college
students today?
Ayodele: "Whatever they want going
forward, to not be afraid to take that step.
Use whatever fear you have to your ad-
vantage. They're young enough that
whatever mistakes
they make they can
recover from."
— As told to Alan
Karpick
Boiler Index
Tom
Campbell
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