Chris "Beanie" Wells, Weatherman?

Apparently earning millions of dollars isn’t enough anymore. Maybe it just doesn’t go as far (it certainly would be nice to find out, though). More than likely, professional athletes have extra time to burn and when they are not playing, they get bored.

Cardinal running back Beanie Wells is the latest to try his hand at a career not in his sport. According to a tweet by Darren Urban, azcardinals.com writer, today (July 7, 2010) during the five pm Channel 12 newscast, Wells will be giving the weather report.

I, for one, will be sure to record that. It could be quite entertaining to watch him in front of the green screen.

Wells is hardly the first athlete to try something different during their playing career. Our local (and formerly local) pro athletes have been at it for a while.

Steve Nash and Jared Dudley have been on the more serious side of things. Nash has a successful video production company and Dudley is making news with his JMZ reporting (and causing a buzz with his tweet that he has insider information claiming LeBron James is joining Amar’e Stoudemire in New York).

This week, former Sun Shawn Marion competed in the World Series of Poker , losing in the first round. I’m not sure if this was for fun or if it was trying to score the big money he couldn’t get from the Suns.

On the less serious side, Cardinal defensive lineman Darnell Dockett applied for and got a call back from Victoria’s Secret. Of course, he is underpaid and has been seeking a new contract for some time. Perhaps he really needs the money.

In Wells’ case, I think he is thinking ahead. After all, the average life of an NFL running back is about two and a half seasons. On a more serious side, he has already expressed a desire to work in the media in his post-NFL days. I guess this is the first step for him in building a résumé.

Part of me despises how rich and famous people automatically have an in when it comes to doing things they want. It makes things harder for regular schmucks like me and you (sorry if you don’t think that you’re a regular schmuck).

The other part of me realizes that these are regular people and have a career that will end about the time many people start theirs. They want something to do. Heck, I am guilty of testing the waters in another area of interest by writing this.

So, tune in to Channel 12 News at five tonight, follow Dudley on Twitter , watch Nash’s videos, go visit Dockett at Victoria’s Secret (no, not really—he doesn’t really work there), and above all, keep reading my stuff.

We’re all just trying to make it, after all.

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