Some of the finest alumni who have played in the league are military academy graduates, including Pro Football Hall of Famer Roger Staubach (Naval Academy), Chad Hennings (Air Force Academy) and Phil McConkey (Naval Academy).
Bryce Fisher, who graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, is a member of that exclusive group.
Fisher was a seventh-round draft pick of the Bills in 1999. He later played defensive end for the Rams, Seahawks, and Titans during a nine-year NFL career. He is appreciative of all that he learned during his football days.
“Football teaches you how to persevere,” the 47-year old Fisher says. “It also teaches you how to get comfortable when you are uncomfortable, work as a team, and how to accept coaching and pursue excellence.”
“However, I started playing football at 14, and I was around the game for the next 17 years. If at the end of the day, if I live to be 80 and all I did was play football, then I wasted the other approximately 60 years of my life.”
No one should accuse Fisher of wasting his post-NFL years. He earned an MBA from the prestigious University of Chicago in 2011. He was a longtime member of the U.S. Air Force (with rank of Major) and the Illinois Air National Guard. Fisher also worked at several financial firms while always giving back to local non-profits. Earlier this year, Fisher co-founded The Black Phoenix Group in Chicago which, as part of its portfolio, provides economic opportunity in communities that have been marginalized historically.
“I always think the best is in front of me,” Fisher explains. “When I thought about graduate school, I only applied to the University of Chicago and Harvard. My parents (Richard and Diana) used to always tell me: ‘You can be anything you want.’ I believed them and have constantly told my three daughters the same thing. The last thing I want is for somebody to say that Bryce didn’t really try.”
We at NFL Alumni believe that Bryce Fisher always has tried. We thank him for representing our membership in the very best way. As they say at the Air Force Academy: “Aim High…Fly-Fight-Win”
