Linebacker Blake Martinez is trying to make a comeback in the NFL after making a small fortune selling Pokémon cards.
According to NFL Network, the 29-year-old worked out in front of the Carolina Panthers coaching staff this week.
Marinez retired from professional football in 2022 after founding the company “Blake’s Breaks”. The company specialized in collecting and selling the popular Japanese franchise cards. The footballer would have generated sales worth $11.5 million in less than 12 months via the “Whatnot” platform.
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However, Martinez’s company was banned from Whatnot last August. In a press release, the platform announced that it would refund the sales in which the athlete was involved and that he was now banned.
Users specifically accused Martinez of replacing high-value card packs with lower-value cards.
In seven seasons in the NFL, the Arizona native has worn the colors of the Green Bay Packers (2016 to 2019), New York Giants (2020 to 2021) and Las Vegas Raiders (2022). In 84 career games in the Goodell League, he made 706 tackles, intercepted four passes and recovered three fumbles.