Joining New York just over four months after he was chosen by Green Bay in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft, Caleb Schlauderaff was essentially a bonus pick for the Jets.
Which worked out well since they hadn't selected any offensive linemen during the draft and Schlauderaff had been a four-year starter at left guard for the University of Utah, and named as a first-team All-Mountain West Conference selection as a senior.
"It was kind of a surprise, completely a surprise," Schlauderaff said. "It was right around the end of training camp with the Packers, right around roster cuts, and I don't remember if the Jets got a hold of me first or if it was the Packers letting me know I'd been traded.
"Somehow, I figured out I was traded. Okay, you've got to move 1,000 miles or whatever it was, and different city. And my mind initially went to logistics, 'Okay, I've got to move, find an apartment, find a place to live.'
"I was nervous, I'd say. More so because I was a rookie. It was a lockout year and just a lot of changes all at once. But I got a flight out the next day and met the team and kind of just went from there."
Putting on the Green & White only days before the season-opener against Dallas, Schlauderaff was playing catch-up before ever playing in a game.
"Training camp was when they do a lot of the install," Schlauderaff said. "And as a rookie, everything's new and so you've got to learn the logistics, the lay of the land, the terminology. Because the plays may be the same, but the terminology is different. I was an interior offensive lineman, so the play calls and a lot of that stuff, you really have to be kind of in sync with everything."
After Schlauderaff was inactive for the first four games, the writing was on the wall – or in this case, literally on the game plan – that his first NFL game was also going to be his first start.
"I started as a jumbo tight end [tackle eligible], and different offenses will say, 'Hey, these are the first 15 plays we're trying to look at.' Sometimes they'll script them. Sometimes they didn't," Schlauderaff said. "I was a little surprised when they called that play with the jumbo tight end as the first one, but I knew it was one that I'd be in on, and so I went in there."
After spending three years with the Jets and playing primarily on the special teams' kickoff and field goal units, Schlauderaff was part of the last cut prior to the 2014 season.
He had seen signs that this might happen, and at that point, instead of possibly prolonging his career by signing with another team, he was ready to move on with his life.
"That was my fourth year and pay scale pays you a little bit more every year, so you're always competing with the rookies, and there were some signs that, 'Hey, I might be released,'" Schlauderaff said.
"And so for me at that point, I was starting to prepare for my Plan B and ready to start that next chapter. So when I got released, I think I gave it a couple of hours and called my agent and said I was ready to retire. I'd actually kind of planned my steps. I knew I wanted to go into medicine and was ready to make that transition."
When did Schlauderaff realize that a career in medicine would be his plan B?
"My dad's a doc, my mom's a nurse, so I've had a lot of exposure to it over the years. I actually worked in their clinic during one of the lockout seasons as like the world's biggest receptionist," Schlauderaff laughed. "But with the NFL, the uncertainty, I kind of knew I needed to have a Plan B, and so it was always on the back burner. I just didn't know when I'd make the transition.
"Going through undergrad, I always thought I wanted to work in healthcare, but I wasn't sure what route exactly I wanted to go. I thought about doing physical therapy and then eventually, I decided I wanted to be a doctor."
Having earned a medical degree from Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine, Schlauderaff specializes in internal medicine.
"I work in the Olympia (WA) area, which is where I'm from," he said. "I work at two different hospitals. I got done with residency in 2021 at the University of Washington, and I've been doing internal medicine as a hospitalist ever since.
"For me, it's something different every day. There's another challenge. You have to think and problem solve. You get to take care of patients when admitted to the hospital and then treat whatever kind of the underlying condition is.
"And then they improve over their stay, and eventually they're going to go home. Which is kind of direct positive feedback. I like seeing people get better. I like where I'm working. I get to meet a lot of great people and help them along their path and their journey. So it's very rewarding."
Making his home in Olympia with his wife, Chelsie, and their children, Emma and Henry; Schlauderaff, who never thought he'd make it and that "the NFL was always something for someone else," keeps his football background low-key in his medical practice.
"If the nurses ask or if people ask about it, I'll talk about it," Schlauderaff said. "But I really, honestly, I don't need all the extra attention, all the other hoopla that goes around with it. I think sometimes it can be a distraction to what I'm doing now, so I don't have a pin on me or any badge or anything. I try to keep a low profile and just keep the focus on what I'm doing on the day to day.
"At this point, I'm 38. It's hard to even believe I had a (NFL) career in my early 20s. I'm very happy with where I'm at in life. I'm happy with what I've done like the NFL. It's a young man's game, but I see there's still some people I played with that are still playing. I don't know how they do it, but good for them.
"I feel like I've been very fortunate to have a ton of different life experiences in different areas that have helped something different from every step. I've worn a lot of different hats in my life, and I feel like I've learned a little bit from every process. I've had a lot of really awesome experiences for a small-town guy from Shelton, including the NFL, the Jets, all that stuff."
