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BY JOHN O'MALLEY
jomalley@nwitimes.com
219.548.4355 | Tuesday, July 01, 2008 | (No comments posted.)
Riley Larimore has enjoyed working in the real world for the past 18 months.
While the 2002 Merrillville and 2006 Ball State graduate absolutely loved playing college football and enjoyed the camaraderie of his teammates, he quickly discovered he has a little more free time.
"Once there's no football, it makes it 100 times easier,'' Larimore said. "Sitting in an air-conditioned office all day and working, makes me think (working) in the real world isn't that hard.''
Larimore has made a smooth transition from the life of a student-athlete to the working world.
After spending about 15 months working as a credit manager and handling mortgage and consolidation loans for Wells Fargo Financial in Indianapolis, Larimore welcomed the opportunity to become an investment advisor for the Mutual Funds Store, in Dublin, Ohio.
"We deal with clients who are in the retirement phase, or living off their 401Ks and IRAs,'' said Larimore, who earned a bachelor of science degree in risk management and insurance.
"I truly enjoy my job,'' said Larimore, who handles a lot of mutual funds investments. "It's a laid-back atmosphere and I have a lot of freedom in the job. I like helping people with their retirement and helping others set up their college funds. I'm helping them plan their futures and I really do enjoy that.''
The job he started at the Mutual Funds Store put Larimore only a handful of miles away from his brother, Dexter -- a red-shirt sophomore defensive tackle at Ohio State University.
"It's nice to be close to him,'' Larimore said. "I spent a lot of time here last year watching football games. I enjoy watching my brother play and I'm looking forward to this season.''
Since Riley is no longer playing, he hasn't been nearly as worn out as he was during his days as a student-athlete.
Between going to classes, workouts, meetings and practices and then keeping up with academics, Larimore's free time was minimal.
"When you're a student-athlete, there are lots of long, long days,'' said Larimore, whose work ethic was second-to-none when he toiled as a defensive tackle and end for Ball State.
"When you put somebody who's been doing that for a long period of time into a job that's 9-6 or 9-5 everyday, it just makes it seem a whole lot easier. You still work hard throughout the day, but the difference is, it's not physically demanding in the (office) work world -- at least for me.''
Larimore said being a student-athlete has taught him a lot about hard work and time management.
Larimore started three years for the Cardinals and played in every game in his career, including his red-shirt freshman season.
Since leaving college, Larimore has dropped from his playing weight of 255 pounds as a defensive end -- he reached 265 when he played tackle -- to 230.
"I still work out about three times a week to keep in shape,'' said Larimore, who always had difficulty maintaining his weight as a player at Ball State.
"Playing college football was a good experience for me,'' Larimore said. "I traveled to a lot of different places and learned a lot. I think the biggest thing I learned was how to work hard.''
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? | RILEY LARIMORE
The Riley Larimore file
Led Ball State in fumble recoveries and ranked No. 2 in tackles for loss (nine) in 2005.
Earned Dean's List honors four semesters at Ball State.
Times Defensive Player of the Year in 2001.
All-Duneland Conference First Team.
Named to the Coach's All-State Top 50 team.
Captained North All-Stars in 2002 and registered six tackles.
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