Let’s open up Marshawn Lynch’s portfolio

One of the names you may not have expected to be mentioned as an up-and-coming business tycoon is former Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch. For many fans, Lynch is primarily known for his infamous phrase, “I’m here so I won’t get fined.” He wasn’t always the most agreeable player during his NFL career, especially when it came to the media.

Lynch has kept a busy schedule since hanging up the cleats a few years ago. He made headlines this week along with rapper Macklemore for becoming minority owners in the Seattle Kraken of the NHL. In celebration of this new venture, Lynch paying homage to his hometown of Oakland by doing donuts with the team’s Zamboni.

But Marshawn’s portfolio doesn’t stop there. Lynch is kind of all over the place when you think about it. Last year he became an owner of the Oakland Roots of the USL Championship soccer league. Lynch has been a Skittles pitchman for years, he started his own cannabis company and is even involved in a venture fund as an angel investor. Lynch also does his part in giving back to his community in Oakland.

We’ve seen too many examples of athletes that don’t do right by the money they make for many different reasons. That could be bad investment advice, family/friends, frivolous spending, etc. But Lynch is doing what he can to ensure he doesn’t end up as another statistic for ESPN’s Broke.

More current and former athletes seem to finally be learning from some of the mistakes of those before them. Every player isn’t going to reach the heights of Michael Jordan or LeBron James off the court (or on it, for that matter), but each player does have the opportunity to ensure their future by creating a diverse business portfolio for themselves like Lynch is doing.

For those who are talented, fortunate, and lucky enough to make it to any professional sports league, making money is easy once you’re there. Keeping the money is the tricky part, it seems. Even NFL players on minimum salaries are making over $600k per year. That doesn’t sound like a lot when we think of professional sports contracts, but most athletes aren’t making $20, $30, $40 million a year.

Regular people making much less than these league minimums are investing and finding ways for their money to make more money. So, athletes can undoubtedly do it, too. And while Marshawn certainly made much more than that while playing pro ball, he’s making sure he doesn’t fumble the bag like so many before him.