How did Roger Staubach go from the Navy to the NFL and a real estate fortune?

Roger Staubach. Navy Vietnam veteran and Heisman winner who joined the Dallas Cowboys as a 27-year-old rookie, won 2 Super Bowls, and built The Staubach Company into a real estate firm sold to Jones Lang LaSalle for $613 million.

In the military

U.S. Naval Academy class of 1965 (1963 Heisman Trophy winner); served his 4-year commitment 1965 to 1969 as a Supply Corps officer, including 1 year in Vietnam at the Chu Lai base area (he volunteered); left as a Lieutenant.

The transition

• Joined the Cowboys in 1969 as a 27-year-old rookie on a $25,000 salary after 4 years in the Navy.
• Started learning real estate in the 1971 offseason, working for Henry S. Miller Jr.’s firm (whom he called his mentor) and became a vice president there.
• Founded The Staubach Company in 1977 while still playing quarterback, after 6 years learning under Miller.
• Retired from football after the 1979 season and went into business full time.

What came next

• Super Bowl VI MVP; won Super Bowls VI and XII; Pro Football Hall of Fame 1985.
• Grew The Staubach Company to more than 1,000 employees and 50+ offices; sold it to Jones Lang LaSalle in 2008 for $613 million (plus about $50 million in potential upside), with much of the proceeds going to employees.
• Executive chairman of JLL Americas until 2018.
• Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2018.

In Staubach’s own words

“You can’t get caught up in yourself because you can’t do everything by yourself. In the service, it’s a team type atmosphere” (Interview with Plano Profile)

“It takes a lot of unspectacular preparation to get spectacular results. You have to work hard at things.” (Plano Profile, November 2017)

“You don’t quit. Adversity reveals genius and prosperity conceals it. You find the best when times are the toughest.” (Plano Profile, November 2017)

“Just remember to tell your people that you want to win business, but you have to do it right.” (Plano Profile, November 2017, on business ethics)

“It’s important to be a team player and understand what that means.” (Plano Profile, November 2017)

“I’ve always stuck to the things I said I was going to do.” (Fortune)

Lessons for your own transition

• Learn the next trade before you need it: Staubach spent his offseasons apprenticing in real estate years before football ended.
• Find a mentor: he credits Henry Miller with teaching him the business he later built himself.
• Arriving ‘late’ is not fatal: he started his first civilian career at 27, 4 years behind his peers, and still reached the top of 2 fields.

More veterans who made the leap

See them all, and practical steps for leaving after a long career: How do I transition from the military to civilian work after 30 years?.