Cliff Avril: Sack master and budding real estate mogul
Dec 16, 2014, 4:08 PM | Updated: Dec 17, 2014, 7:01 am
A lot of NFL players will tell you they like to watch SportsCenter or maybe play a little Madden on their Xbox after practice. But Seahawks defensive end and 49ers wrecker Cliff Avril admits he has a more cerebral way to chill out.
Avril stopped by The Barbershop on 710 ESPN Seattle this week, where he revealed he has taken a big interest in real estate, and spends a lot of time surfing websites like Zillow.
“Thinking what I could do with them or man, how much can I do with that,” he says.
Avril says he’s always thinking of ways to better himself, and a life after football. Real estate is something that turns his crank.
“I think I’d be trying to flip homes and buying and selling homes. That would be probably where I’d be. For some reason, that just interests me,” he says.
He’s not waiting until his playing days are over to get a leg up in business. Avril tells Barbershop hosts Gee, Terry and Tru that he’s looking into going back to school this summer and pursuing his MBA.
“You have to better yourself sometimes, so I’m thinking about it this off-season. Might be the time to do that,” he says.
Avril isn’t just sitting around watching “Flip This House,” though. He and the rest of the vaunted Seahawks’ defensive front have been gathering non-perishable food items and buying gifts they plan to give to about 20 needy families this holiday season.
“That’s big for us because we know where we come from and there’s so many people that are less fortunate,” he says.
Avril also keeps busy with his Family Foundation, which puts on football camps and stages other events to help combat juvenile diabetes.
“If you start early, you can nip it in the bud,” he says. “It’s just getting awareness out there for kids, that it’s real, what you eat does affect you.”
In the short term though, he’s focused on getting back to the Super Bowl and contemplating what the future will be like decades from now, kicking back in a nursing home with his buddy Michael Bennett and arguing about something inane.
“We argue about dumb stuff now, so I can only imagine how dumb it would be,” he laughs. “It would be an argument, but it would make no sense what we are arguing about.”
Listen to the Seahawks battle the Arizona Cardinals in a crucial NFC West showdown Sunday on 710 ESPN Seattle. Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m.