THE National Football League (NFL) Super Bowl is easily one of the biggest sporting events hosted in the United States of America and watched by hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

The game features the winners of the AFC and NFC games, decided after a 16-game regular season and two rounds of playoff games. That means months of gruelling training for all the players. But, there's life after the game and when they're not on the field many NFL players and retired players are doing valuable work in their communities.

The Observer caught up with a couple of them on the ESPN Super Bowl at Sea cruise to the Western Caribbean, February 4-11, 2012.

Trinidad-born Verron Haynes, an American football running back, was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2002 NFL Draft. He distinguished himself in five seasons with the Steelers 2002-2006 and is currently a free agent.

He founded the Verron Haynes Foundation in 2005, following the death of his 26-year-old cousin of breast cancer. Before that, Verron says "you are aware of cancer, but when it hits close to home you really sit up and take notice". Now the Verron Haynes Foundation works to raise awareness and encourage early testing and healthy lifestyles.

As Verron puts it, "cancer is not prejudiced - it does not discriminate on the grounds of age, colour, class or gender. But catching it at the beginning stages can make the difference between life and death".

The foundation has partnered with an organisation in Atlanta, Haynes' hometown, which offers a range of services to cancer patients and cancer survivors. "They have psychiatrists, counsellors, masseuses, physical trainers — all the people you need to mend mind and body," Haynes said.

Wendell Tyler, a retired running back drafted at age 21 by the Rams, led them to Super Bowl XIV. Then in Super Bowl XIX he led the 49ers to victory — becoming the first player to lead two different teams in rushing in two different Super Bowls.

Today, he is the CEO of the non-profit Dare to Dream Foundation established in 2006 to help rehabilitate incarcerated young men, ages 11-18. Taylor and his team go into the jails and work with them to improve their life chances.

According to Tyler, "we have found that a big part of the problem is that many of these young men can't read. So they get frustrated and rebel and turn to crime".

This has led Tyler and his team into schools as well, where they contribute to reading programmes and have noted a significant improvement in academic performance and self-esteem among the students. Tyler says his bywords are education, motivation and empowerment, but it takes discipline, dedication and determination to achieve success.

He identifies with students by sharing some of his life experiences which help them to avoid poor choices and establish positive changes in their lives. Through his programmes, Wendell covers the issues of truancy, gangs and drug avoidance. He speaks to the importance of respect for themselves, as well as their parents, teachers and anyone who is in authority. He also stresses the importance of moral values and faith.

Dare to Dream, Tyler says, is lucky to have as tutors, interns from the nearby Bakersfield University, who volunteer alongside Tyler and his team in administering the reading programmes.

He's tremendously proud of the "many former jail inmates and students now making a valuable contribution to their families and their communities".

Some have returned to complete high school. Some have been top performers listed on the school's honour roll, still others have earned scholarships and gone on to college and some now play football.

Wendell Tyler is proud of them all.

Verron Haynes and Wendell Tyler were guests of ESPN Caribbean on their third annual "Super Bowl at Sea" cruise. ESPN Caribbean hosted a team of talented sports commentators and analysts, renowned soccer and NFL athletes on the cruise to the Western Caribbean: including Labadee, Haiti; Falmouth, Jamaica and Cozumel, Mexico; on Royal Caribbean's "Oasis of the Seas".

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