David Meggyesy

David Meggyesy

David Meggyesy is a former seven-year NFL player, and author of Out of Their League, his best-selling football biography. He has authored numerous articles, presented lectures and workshops, and made many media appearances regarding sport, its place in society, human potential, and social transformation. 

David co-founded the Esalen Sports Center (1973) and is a founding member of the Evolutionary Sports Collective. For 25 years David was the Western Director of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), the NFL players labor union. For four years, David taught a seminar: “Sports, Consciousness and Social Change” at Stanford University.

During his life David has been influenced by the Civil Rights, Anti-Vietnam War, and Human Potential Movements. Key influences and individuals during his life include Irving Louis Horowitz (political sociology), Gene Upshaw (Pro Football Hall of Fame), Dr. Roberto Assagioli (Psychosynthesis), David Leof, MD (Jungian psychiatry),  Joseph Campbell (mythology), Abraham Maslow (developmental psychology), Aldous Huxley, Ken Wilber, Jean Houston, Michael Murphy (philosophy), and Genpo Roshi Merzel (Zen).

As a recreational athlete he has done distance running, weight training, hatha yoga, skiing, wind-surfing, sculling and meditation.