Student-athletes, especially football players, face unique challenges in balancing academics and athletics, often viewing sports as their only path to success despite less than 2% advancing to professional levels. To address this gap, “I AM PRO” was created as a career exploration tool to help these young athletes broaden their aspirations and academic focus, featuring a culturally relevant Embodied Conversational Agent (ECA) integrating advanced technology with career counseling strategies. Developed with principles from Human-Centered and Culturally Relevant Computing, the ECA reflects the characteristics and experiences of African American football players through tailored interactions, serving as a virtual mentor that guides personalized career exploration aligned with the National Career Clusters Framework and offering Individual Development Plans (IDPs) for various career paths. A mixed-methods approach evaluated the app’s effectiveness, involving quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews with 79 participants from the Texas Youth Football Association, focusing on changes in athletic identity and career motivation. Participants reported a shift from an intense athletic identity toward increased academic motivation and awareness of diverse career options, with usability testing confirming that the app exceeded standards. This research highlights the need for culturally relevant career counseling technologies, demonstrating how tools like “I AM PRO” can empower under-served populations by promoting holistic development and advocating for integrating early career exploration in educational settings.