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Blake Martinez earned nearly $30 million playing as a linebacker in the NFL. Now, at his own business, he has earned more than a third of that in less than a year.
In a fascinating piece by Zak Keefer in The Athletic, Martinez details the journey that saw him become an entrepreneur of Pokemon cards and streaming. He has earned $11.5 million since he retired from NFL last November.
Blake Martinez began the company Blake's Breaks in July of last year. The company now has 20 full-time staff and they have up to 16 hours of streaming daily on Whatnot. The former NFL player appears twice or three times a week as well and they are one of the highest-grossing channels on the platform.
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As he detailed in starting the journey, it was tough for him to leave the NFL. But Blake Martinez got re-interested in Pokemon back in 2020, after having it be a big part of his life growing up. As he detailed on his Instagram, he started trading and saw that he could more or less double the value every time he did a sale.
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By 2022, he saw that it could become a full-time profession and took the leap. He had made $6 million back in March earlier this year and based on the latest reporting, even that has now doubled.
Money is not the only factor in Blake Martinez taking this leap
Though the report and his own Instagram post show how much money he has made over the last year, for Blake Martinez it was not about what he was earning. He was already an NFL player who was making millions in the game.
What inspired him is that Pokemon was something that he really enjoyed and was a formative part of his life. Additionally, by doing his own business, he could be his own boss and he liked having the freedom there.
It was a surprise when Blake Martinez walked away from the NFL. But after some great seasons with the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants, he only played 3 games in the 2021 season for the latter after an ACL injury prematurely ended his season.
He was released by them the next year in 2022. He joined the Las Vegas Raiders with the practice squad, before being eventually selected to the active roster.
Blake Martinez saw the uncertainty with injuries and changing franchises, where he was always at the mercy of owners, general managers and agents. With his new venture, he has brought control back into his life.
