When Shaquille O'Neal posed as a child online to catch sexual predators: "I just say ‘Hi’, 98% of it is s*xual right away"
Shaquille O'Neal was always ambitious despite being one of the best big men in the history of the NBA. He's managed to carve out a variety of career paths both during and after his playing days. One of them being in law enforcement.
In 2005, Shaquille O'Neal appeared on "Good Morning America" to talk about how he worked with law enforcement in Virginia. He played for the Miami Heat at the time and was also a reserve officer with the Bedford County Sheriff's Office.
Shaq's main contribution was in locating and tracking down sexual predators. He would go online and pretend to be a young child to see how people reacted to his messages.
"I don't like to give away my secrets, but I just say 'hi,'" O'Neal said. "They ask how old I am and they get right into it. ... Ninety-eight percent of it's sexual right away."
He added,
"We want to get these predators off-line," O'Neal told "Good Morning America." "It's very disturbing to see that anyone would want to harm a child especially in a sexual manner, very, very disturbing."
Shaquille O'Neal applauded for his work in law enforcement
Shaquille O'Neal is unique in more ways than one. Most superstar athletes spend their free time doing luxurious things rather than taking on additional work. Shaq, on the other hand, has never been like that.
As a father of eight kids, this line of work is clearly something that he is passionate about. Following his appearance on Good Morning America, the Bradford County Sheriff applauded Shaq for the time and dedication he's put into this work.
"I've known a lot of police officers and in my 40 years in the business, and I think I'm pretty hard to fool," Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown said.
"There is absolutely nothing phony, fake about Shaquille O'Neal and his desire to help kids and to be a viable part of law enforcement."
On occasion, athletes have a hard time finding their footing when their playing days are over. Unlike normal professions, they retire at a much younger age. This leaves a lot of time for them to fill up. That being said, Shaq has used his post-basketball life to pursue an array of different passions. At the time, he even mentioned getting into law enforcement following his retirement.
"Basketball has to end," he said. "Basketball doesn't last forever. Law enforcement lasts forever. It's something I want to do."
On and off the basketball court, Shaq has made himself a difference-maker in the world.