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A-Rod opens up about his 'mistakes' to college students

Matthew Emmons / USA TODAY Sports

Now that his playing days are over, Alex Rodriguez has had a lot of time to reflect on his controversial baseball career.

Rodriguez, once the highest-paid player in baseball history, has already started spreading some of the wisdom he picked up in baseball to the next generation. On Thursday, according to Jim Berry of CBS Miami, the former New York Yankees superstar sat down with a group of college students at the University of Miami and candidly discussed all aspects of his scandal-laden 22-year career on and off the field.

"I made mistakes and then I doubled down and became a bigger jerk and then went on sports radio and made an ass of myself," Rodriguez told the students, referring in part to the steroid scandal that continues to cloud his on-field accomplishments.

"I was just a really big jerk."

In his short post-baseball life, Rodriguez has already made a name for himself as a rising star in television through his work as an analyst on FOX's MLB coverage; he's also working in the Yankees organization and has several private business ventures. But he told Berry that telling his story to students and owning up to his errors is giving him the most satisfaction right now.

"I've had some big hiccups along the way and I think that’s created a big platform for me to come back into the community," Rodriguez said, according to Berry. "Hopefully I can share stories of mistakes that I've made that hopefully the next generation doesn't make."

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