NFL Players Taking on Unpaid Internships to Develop Career Skills

— -- Not everyone in the NFL is spending their off-season relaxing.

Today, NFL stars Will Allen, Frankie Hammond and Darrel Young tackled a new role as interns on “Good Morning America."

Allen, Hammond and Young are part of a program designed by the NFL to help players find their second careers.

“I didn’t imagine it, but it’s exciting,” Allen, a Pittsburgh Steelers safety, told Linsey Davis.

Allen, 33, is best known for his work on the gridiron, but Allen is also an intern -- working for Congressman Bobby Rush.

He’s one of 26 NFL athletes taking part in the NFL Players Association’s internship program, where some of the league’s hardest hitters are trying to tackle the idea of a 9-to-5, unpaid internship.

“The average career is less than four years and we knew we needed to get players out into the working world,” said Leslie Satchell of the NFL Players Association.

Just last month, Denver Broncos’ Darius Kilgo was holding the Vince Lombardi trophy following his team’s Super Bowl win.

But instead of taking time off to relax, Kilgo now holds down a job at Under Armour, where eight other NFL players are interning at the sportswear giant -- doing everything from putting the brand’s apparel to the test to designing their own shoes.

“Football is an experience, not a career,” said Darrel Young, the former Washington Redskins fullback. “So, why not use every experience that you have to, you know, figure out your career?”

The program is Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for three weeks, the NFL Players Association said.