34 | INNOVISION MAGAZINE John Spagnola was invited by student leader, Stephen Sponenburg, of the Applied Investment Management club (A.I.M), just prior to Superbowl LVII. Spagnola shared his journey of college football at Yale University, into the NFL as a Philadelphia Eagle, and ultimately building a successful career in Asset Management. The sectioned-off room in the McFarland Student Union Building was filled with students, as well as a virtual meeting room for those who couldn’t attend in person with everyone excited to hear the former Philadelphia Eagles’ story. “It’s been a really interesting road,” Spagnola explained, beginning his story in the Lehigh Valley born to middle class, working parents, including a mother who set high academic standards for Spagnola and his older brother. “I’m very grateful for her,” as she is now 93 years old, he relayed, and “I’ll be visiting her later today at the Senior Center in Bethlehem.” Spagnola loved playing sports growing up and played whichever sport was in season. Any aspirations of being a pro athlete seemed in vain until a latent growth spurt brought him from only 110 pounds in his freshman year to 6.3 inches tall and 185 pounds in his senior year. “My body finally caught up with those aspirations,” he explained, and after playing college football at Yale, he was finally drafted by the Eagles after a roller coaster ride of delayed starts and other offers. Spagnola had to continually prove himself in his first years in the NFL where he was greeted by Philadelphia fans that told him he was awful before he even had a chance to do anything wrong. “Let me drop a pass or do something wrong first, so you can boo me,” he said remembering. “It was a quick indoctrination into the ethos of the Philadelphia fan base, which is what makes the town so unique,” he said with a smile and nod to the lively and brusque fan base. Spagnola currently acts as Managing Director at PFM Asset Management, however, he started as a Political Science major when attending Yale University. Spagnola’s motto and advice is to “branch out and keep your doors open,” as he himself explored many avenues through the process of elimination and observing what he did and did not like. If it weren’t for getting drafted into the NFL, Spagnola explained, he would probably have gone into politics, government, or law. Spagnola took a semester off from college to work for Bill Bradley (three-time U.S. Senator and former NBA player) during his 1978 campaign and was influenced greatly by Bradley and the whole experience. Although it wouldn’t be the same path Spagnola would take, it was his backup plan if the NFL didn’t pan out. “Take advantage of whatever you can and try something in an area you may not have ever thought you’d be interested in,” Spagnola urged, this being exactly how he approached his multi-career path. During the off-season and while recovering from a, thankfully, successful herniated disk surgery in his neck, Spagnola found a job through his network with First Boston out of Wall Street in New York City. It was here that Spagnola became exposed to the financial world, admittedly not yet knowing the difference between a stock and a bond. He was surrounded by very bright and talented people at First Boston, who taught him the financial world of business as he learned the various departments—sales, options, equities, institutional sales, syndication, investment banking, capital structure, and treasury options, etc. “It was fascinating to me to see this all come together,” Spagnola remarked. “I continued learning and getting to the point where I knew what I was doing.” Spagnola foresaw the need to transition out of the NFL saying, “it was a really GUEST SPEAKER JOHN SPAGNOLA Guest speaker, John Spagnola talks with the KU community.
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