Blake Martinez, the player who left the NFL to sell Pokémon cards clocks $5M in revenue in seven months
Blake Martinez earned more than $28 million from playing in the NFL.
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Blake Martinez (Image via New York Post)
The NFL is a competitive league and once a player gets a chance to enter the league; he puts in all of his efforts to stay at the top for as long as he can. However, this wasn’t the case for one player who actually left the NFL of his own accord without any injury problems.
Blake Martinez, former inside linebacker for the New York Giants, left the NFL where he made millions, to start his own company. That’s right! Rather than staying in the league where injuries are common and players suffered lifelong problems because of those injuries, Martinez left to sell Pokémon cards.
The 29-year-old used to collect Pokémon cards since his childhood and even used to talk about Pokémon cards during game interviews in 2021. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Martinez learned how much each collectible pack was selling for and how much influencers earned from selling these cards. Observing this, he decided to enter the market himself and left his professional football career.
Blake Martinez played in the NFL for six years
Martinez founded his company Blake’s Breaks in July 2022 and has made about $5 million selling collectible cards, as reported by CNBC. Martinez committed to his company full-time in November and has had great success in a short span. Everyone who follows the league is familiar with the linebacker who used to dominate the field and scare off quarterbacks.
While talking with CNBC, Martinez said that it’s not just his name value that has scaled Blake’s Breaks. “I think there’s more to my success than [my name]. I used to be like the quarterback of the defense, I was calling plays. When I started this business, it felt like running a team again,” Blake said. He also added that a quarter of the revenue is invested back into the company to grow it and the rest is taken home by him and his team of 15 members.
Blake Martinez was selected in the fourth round by the Green Bay Packers in the 2016 NFL draft. After completing his rookie contract with the Packers, Martinez joined the Giants, but in his second year with them, he suffered a torn ACL and was eventually released by the team in 2022. He signed with the Las Vegas Raiders shortly after and one month into the franchise he announced his retirement and revealed his plan to sell Pokémon cards full-time.
The 2017 tackle co-leader has already fixed a few short-term and long-term goals for his company. Initially, he plans to open warehouses in Canada and the U.K. and hit $10 million in annual revenue. Afterward, he wishes to sell comic books as well and have $25 million in annual revenue. This is really a pain-free way (at least physically) to earn a living and make millions at it. Kudos to Blake Martinez!
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Yash Karandekar
(1023 Articles Published)