Blake Martinez, Ex-NFL Linebacker, Has Made Millions By Selling Pokémon Cards

The ex-Packers player is trading in a new lucrative venture.

Former NFL linebacker Blake Martinez retired from football back in November after spending seven seasons in the league. It doesn't seem the 29-year-old was out of work long, however. 

Since hanging up the cleats and calling it a career, Martinez has set out another venture. With football out of the picture, the former linebacker is now the owner of Blake’s Breaks, a trading card company which he founded in June of 2022 that specializes in Pokémon cards. 

It's proven to be quite the lucrative venture for Martinez. Since its founding in the summer, the trading card company has reportedly brought in more than $5 million in revenue through reselling platform Whatnot, per CNBC Make It. He's earned as much as $675,000 from a single card, too. 

“I used to be like the quarterback of the defense, I was calling plays,” said Martinez, via CNBC Make It. “When I started this business, it felt like running a team again.”

Martinez played seven years in the NFL, spending time with the Packers, Giants, and Raiders. During his career, he collected as much as $28.948 million in career earnings, per Spotrac.

Injuries plagued Martinez during the end of his career. After just three appearances with the Giants in 2021, he suffered a torn ACL and missed the remainder of the year. It was during the rehab for that injury that he got more into the card collecting hobby and started his company. 

He featured in four games for the Raiders in 2022 before announcing his retirement, opting to pursue his new Pokémon-themed venture in a full-time capacity.

“Every single day when I wake up, my shoulder doesn’t hurt and my back doesn’t hurt anymore,” Martinez said of his surprising career swap, indicating he’s content with the decision he made. “When all that hurts are my fingers from opening, like, 1,000 packs of cards per day, I think, ‘I’m going to keep doing this.’”