On Thursday, Nov. 6 during X-block, students packed the room to hear words of wisdom from Jeff Connors: love what you do, work hard and success will follow.
Connors, Senior Director of Member Services of the New England Patriots, gave an information session for students interested in careers in sports management. He described the progression of his career, from bartending at a pub outside Fenway to assuming a managerial position on a Super Bowl-winning NFL team.
Connors said the key is hard work and persistence. He said that while a sports management career offers a job involving passion and interest, it requires a bit more work if you want to be very successful.
“It’s a very different career trajectory than some of your friends are going to do. You’re probably going to work more, you’re probably going to get paid less,” Connors said. “But if it’s something you love, you just have to keep [going] after it.”
Connors also said there are different career paths associated with a college major in sports management and many opportunities and unique jobs can come out of it. With the Patriots, since the team is so big and such a crucial part of New England’s sports culture, Connors said that it requires a lot of behind-the-scenes work to make the team successful.
“So my job is on the sales and marketing side. There’s so much that needs to happen to make it [the team] operate with security: operations, lawyers, accountants, food and beverage. The list goes on and on,” Connors said.
Senior Annie O’Reilly attended the event and said that his journey from humble beginnings to being an executive on a top-tier sports team inspired her because she, too, is interested in working in the sports industry one day.
“He was a real, authentic person, and he started out being a bartender for Fenway and then he built his way up to working for the Patriots,” O’Reilly said. “Talking to [Connors] was helpful because we learned [about] more experiences surrounding sports management.”
Hearing Connors’ message about persistence struck a chord with O’Reilly, who said it reinforced her plans for a future in sports. She said his advice was both realistic and encouraging.
“I want to work in the sports business in the future, hopefully in the NBA. I am planning to major in it in college. It’s so important to talk to people [and] make connections,” O’Reilly said.
Connors ended his lecture with a reminder that choosing something you love to do and nurturing it with hard work can eventually lead to success, and that cannot exist without a few bumps in the road.
“If you can combine what you love to do and make a career out of it, and you can see yourself doing that for a while and sticking with it,” Connors said, “[then] knowing that when you drive into work every day, whether it’s Gillette Stadium or Fenway Park, and you’re excited to go into work, it’s worth it.”
