Blake Martinez has actually had a curious profession.
The linebacker swapped sacking quarterbacks for dealing Pokemon playing cards, retired, after which jumped again into the NFL when all of it went unsuitable.
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And he did all of that earlier than the age of 30.
Again in 2016, after a profitable school profession, Martinez was drafted into the NFL by the Inexperienced Bay Packers.
As a fourth spherical choose, he walked straight into the crew in his rookie season, which on the time was lead by legendary quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Over the subsequent 4 years, he missed simply three video games, and went to the playoffs twice with Inexperienced Bay having established himself as the most effective linebackers within the league.
Martinez hit free company in 2020, and was signed to a three-year, $30million contract by the New York Giants.
His time at Metlife Stadium was much less fruitful, and after enjoying all 16 video games in his first yr with New York, Martinez suffered a season-ending torn ACL on Week 3 of the 2021 season.
Lower than 12 months later, he was launched. However as one door closes, one other one opens.
Martinez landed on the Las Vegas Raiders’ observe squad, and fought his manner again onto the sector.
In a Week 9 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, he piled up a team-best 11 tackles, and proved he may nonetheless play soccer on the prime degree.
However Martinez’s thoughts was elsewhere. He had fallen in love with Pokemon once more.
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In recent times, the playing cards have skyrocketed in worth.
Those that can get their arms on uncommon playing cards which might be nonetheless in glorious situation have the chance to make some critical money.
And that is precisely what Martinez did.
Per The Athletic, Martinez began shopping for into on-line ‘breaks’ – reside streams through which the vendor opens a buyer’s newly-purchased pack of playing cards, revealing their worth in actual time.
However he wasn’t making a lot cash at the start, and thought it will be way more thrilling – and profitable – to tear open the packs himself.
Martinez began pouring an increasing number of cash into his dream, and was finally pointed within the path of Whatnot, a buying platform that makes a speciality of collectibles.
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His first stream on the platform netted the previous linebacker $108,000 in revenue, and he rapidly kicked on.
“The extra individuals I related with, the data simply saved rising and rising and rising, and the true ones began to respect me,” Martinez advised The Athletic in 2023.
“Lastly, it was type of like, ‘Hey, Blake’s one in every of us now.’”
He went on to ascertain his personal enterprise, Blake’s Breaks, and it took off instantly.
At its peak, Martinez had employed almost 20 full-time staffers, and collectively hosted 16 hours of reside streams per day, establishing one of many greatest Pokemon channels on Whatnot.
Simply over every week earlier than that sport in opposition to Jacksonville in 2022, he had bought a single card for $672,000, and shortly after introduced his retirement from the NFL on the age of 28.
Martinez mentioned in July 2023: “I simply requested myself, do I wish to hold beginning over from floor zero with soccer, and hold destroying my physique, or do I wish to begin over from floor zero right here, and do one thing I can really maintain for a very long time?”
In the identical profile in The Athletic, he claimed that revenues for Blake’s Breaks had climbed previous the $11.5m mark in only one yr.
Sadly, although, Martinez was unable to maintain his dream for so long as he needed.
Come August 2023, he was completely banned from Whatnot amid allegations of scamming clients.
After a number of individuals took to social media with accusations of wrongdoing, {the marketplace} introduced {that a} ‘complete investigation’ had led to the removing of his account.
Many of the allegations centered on Marisa Snee, a university soccer participant Martinez had recruited personally to affix his firm, whereas the NFL star’s promoting conduct was additionally criticized.
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Per a later report from The Athletic, Martinez initially tried to downplay the scandal and urged his workers to not handle the scenario.
On a stream after the accusations had been made public, he didn’t apologize, nor did he admit to any wrongdoing or scamming.
However with Blake’s Breaks faraway from Whatnot, his promoting success screeched to a halt, and his enterprise was placed on pause.
In response to ESPN, Martinez mentioned there have been ‘numerous issues on the market that are not true, numerous speculations, numerous false claims.’
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“I realized loads,” he went on to say concerning the enterprise.
“There’s much more due diligence within the issues I used to be doing, the method I used to be going by means of, the individuals I used to be bringing on, simply to verify these issues did not occur.”
In November 2023, Martinez made his return to the NFL, signing a deal to affix the Carolina Panthers observe squad.
Two weeks later, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed him to their 53-man roster, and he featured in a single common season sport that yr.
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He has since develop into a free agent once more.