QPR midfielder David Wheeler says it’s ‘refreshing’ to have experienced life outside of football before kick-starting his career.
The 27-year-old balanced playing non-league football with attending Brunel University before moving into the professional game with Exeter City in 2013, and speaking The Totally Football League Show podcast, Wheeler says that the experience has kept his feet on the ground.
He said: “I can imagine that if you stay in football all the way through from being a kid it is very, very difficult to imagine what it’s like outside of football because you’ve only had that experience. And I consider myself quite lucky to have had the experience of going to university and working, doing other things, because you can build empathy with people from different walks of life,” he told the Totally Football League Show .
“Most of my friends are from outside of the game. I made a lot of friends at uni and kept in contact with people I grew up with, who are doing all sorts of different things from working for think tanks to being doctors. It definitely makes life interesting.
"It’s nice when you’re outside of football to be with people who don’t really care about football; it’s quite refreshing sometimes.”
