O'Neal left behind his wife, Lisa, and his three children, daughters Talia, 6, and Mya, 2, and son Ty, who turns 2 next month.
O'Neal knows what it's like to grow up without a father. That's why every Monday right after meetings he races to the airport and hops on a plane to spend the players' day off (Tuesday) with his family.
"It was tough, but they understood," said O'Neal, who was cut by Cincinnati Aug. 30. "I'm still playing football, but once I'm done I won't be away from my [kids] ever again.
"I see them pretty much every week. I go out there as much as I can to see them. I'll go to their school and interrupt class and try to take them out so I can be with them for like five or 10 minutes. Just anything so I can see them."
O'Neal's role model when it comes to taking care of family is his brother, Stephan Forbes, who is 10 years his senior. According to O'Neal's mother, Cheryl Jessie, Forbes was a surrogate father for O'Neal while he grew up in Milpitas, Calif., helping him with schoolwork and taking him on trips to the local amusement park.
When Forbes sacrificed his chance to pursue sports when he became a father at age 22, it made quite an impression on O'Neal.
"He taught him the importance of family, family ties, and values," said Jessie. "I think Stephan was very instrumental in him being what he is now."
"I saw the man that he became as a young man," said O'Neal. "I was like, 'That's how you're supposed to do it. You're supposed to take care of your family.' He did a great job at that."
Family is one of the reasons that O'Neal, who has a degree from the University of California at Berkeley, is planning to participate in the league's NFL Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program this offseason by taking classes at Harvard Business School.
"To me, NFL stands for 'Not For Long,' so you get what you can while you're in here," said O'Neal, 31. "I'm not trying to be one of those guys that has been in the NFL for almost 10 years and you got out of the NFL and you're dead broke. You have nothing. I'm trying to provide for my daughters and my little boy. That's my whole outlook about that."
