From joining the Seattle Seahawks' broadcast team as an analyst this season to managing and running his own familial foundation to creating a real estate firm, Super Bowl Champion and crucial cog of the legendary "Legion of Boom" defense, Cliff Avril has kept himself busy in his post-playing days.
But that transition hasn't always been easy.
"It's interesting, most fans love you when you're on the field, but really don't care about that transition period for you, and that's probably some of your darkest moments, depending on how long you play," Avril told Gee Scott on the Seahawks-devoted podcast The Reset. "The longer you play, the harder those next two or three years are for you once you transition because you've been in that game for a long time. You've been doing something for so long for the majority of your life, trying to figure out what that next passion is, what that next purpose is, can be tough."
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Avril came to Seattle after spending the first five years of his career in Detroit. His first season with the Hawks was in 2013, the year of the franchise's first and only Super Bowl victory and the indoctrination of The Legion of Boom as one of the most celebrated and storied defenses in the sport's history.
The one-time Pro Bowler played in the NFL for a decade, totaling 298 tackles, 74 sacks, 30 forced fumbles and one defensive touchdown. Only 15 players have forced more fumbles in their career than Avril since the league started charting that data.
Avril also finished as No. 11 on the all-time Seattle sack list for the franchise.
He only played four games in his final year in the league due to a severe neck injury, but he used that time to begin looking at other opportunities "under the umbrella" of still being employed by the Seahawks.
"The cool thing about being in Seattle is there are so many Fortune 500 companies and different things that, when the injury happened, a lot of the CEOs actually reached out to me, checking in on me," Avril said. "They were like, 'Hey, we don't have a position for you, but we'd love to have you on the team.' So I was meeting with Zillow, with Microsoft. I was meeting with radio stations because of the media aspect of things."
His latest venture is CA Family Properties, a Seattle-based real estate investment and development company that primarily renovates distressed, multi-family properties. Avril claimed real estate just kept calling after him, even during his playing days.
Motivated by a fear of going broke in retirement and encouraged by numerous conversations with high-profile executives, including the aforementioned one with the CEO of Zillow, Avril dove into the world of real estate head-first. His first real estate move was buying his mom a house, an investment he still considers one of the best in his career.
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Avril also made sure to give Gee Scott some credit for making Seattle his home after his playing days, reflecting on a conversation they had before retirement was even on the horizon for the former defensive end.
"You told me, for some reason, the city loves guys that actually retire at Seahawks, but guys that leave and come back don't necessarily get the same love," Avril told Gee. "You have a lot of brand equity here as well."
While multiple teams still wanted his services after he recovered from his neck injury, Avril thought lasting a decade in the league was enough and decided to pursue other projects. Enter the Cliff Avril Family Foundation, which first launched a few years before his retirement. Inspired by the death of his grandmother and his mother's subsequent diabetes diagnosis, the foundation focuses on educating today's youth about healthy living, increasing awareness of Type 2 diabetes and creating and promoting healthy living habits.
The foundation is centered around communities primarily in Jacksonville, Seattle, Charlotte and Haiti.
Fast forward to 2024, the foundation is ready to celebrate its 11th annual "Dining to Make a Difference" banquet, known as one of the most exciting charity events in the Pacific Northwest.
"There's not too many cities like Seattle as far as where athletes can come set their roots in, and the city continues to follow them after they're done," Avril said. "I've been retired going on seven years now, and 'Dining to Make a Difference' is still a big event. A lot of people still are just waiting for this event to happen. And they see the work. They see where the money's going. They see it going back into the city, commit and to the community as well."
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Avril mentioned that general manager John Schneider and quarterback Geno Smith will be special guests at this year's dinner.
"When you're an athlete and you're in the mix, you don't realize the impact that you're having on the community," Avril said. "You don't realize how big the Super Bowl really is for the community. Amongst ourselves, it's like, 'That was cool. Let's go do it again' type of situation. But when you're in the community once you're retired and you start meeting these guys. A grown man walked up to me. He's like, 'Hey man, it's an honor to meet you. You're a legend. You're my childhood hero.' And I'm like, 'Your childhood hero? Man, I'm 38 years old. What are you talking about?' But he's 25, 26 years old and the Super Bowl was 10 years ago, so he was 15 years old. That makes sense."
Interactions like these were a wake-up call for Avril for what stage of his career he's in. That, and realizing the current head coach for the Seattle Seahawks is officially younger than him.
"He's 37 years old! That's mind-boggling to me because when you think of coaches, you think of coaches being a little bit older. All my coaches have always been older," Avril said. "But I love, love his mindset. I love the accountability piece. I love that he's a defensive-minded head coach. As we all know, defenses win championships."
Avril's 'Dining to Make a Difference' event is this Monday, Sept. 23, from 6 to 9 p.m. at The Golf Club in Newcastle. Visit its website for tickets and more details.