| Football and farming may not seem like a natural pairing but there are some NFL players that would strongly disagree. In fact, there are a surprising number of NFL players that have connections to farms and ranches. Some still help out with family farms they grew up on while others started new careers as farmers after their stints in the NFL ended, or have found other ways to stay connected to lifestyle that shaped their values. Jason Brown – Former St. Louis Rams Center: In 2012, at the age of 29, Brown walked away from his NFL career and a record-setting contract that had made him the highest-paid center in the League’s history. In his 2021 book, “Centered”, Brown recounts how he fell into many of the trappings of fame and fortune, including extravagant homes and cars. But as his playing career hit new heights, Brown says his life was reaching depressing lows. So when given the chance to remain in the NFL, he instead listened to what he believed God was telling guiding him toward – “to sink my hands into the earth and pull goodness out of it.” Brown grows sweet potatoes and other vegetables, and donates much of it to community food banks and churches. “I knew that in my transition from football to farming, God was creating a transformative story.” Check out Brown’s “First Fruits Farm” HERE. Jason came to FARMCON a couple of years ago, Great Guy! |
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Lorenzo Carter – Atlanta Falcons Linebacker: Lorenzo Carter says he didn’t plan to live on a farm when he was first drafted by the New York Giants in the 2018 NFL Draft. However, when he returned to the state of Georgia to play for the Atlanta Falcons two seasons ago, he decided to ditch urban life for 50-acres in Windsor, Georgia. His “Lucky Charm Family Farm,” named after the late-family dog, is indeed a family operation, too. Carter’s father Leo runs the day-to-day operations while his mother Lisa applies skills earned during a more than 2 decade career working for the Department of Labor. His two older sisters, Larissa and London, manage their own careers as well as different aspects of the farm. Carter himself obviously stays busy during football season but spends as much time on the farm as he can. “I don’t think there’s another way to live, that would be better for me or my family.” |
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Chad Greenway – Former Minnesota Vikings Linebacker: Greenway has been a farmer his whole life, growing up on a hog and cattle farm in South Dakota. Like other farmer athletes, he says the farm is where he learned things like the value of hard work, determination, and perseverance. “I had the advantage from the farm upbringing to realize that it’s not about doing it one day,” Greenway has said. “It’s about doing it day after day after day.” Today, you can find Greenway on his hobby farm near Wayzata, MN, where he has some livestock and “builds things.” Since his retirement, he has been a vocal farmer advocate, worked with Pioneer, and managed a professional speaking career that has included farm events all across the US. |
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Jordy Nelson – Former Green Bay Packers and Oakland Raider WR: Nelson grew up on his family farm near Manhattan, Kansas, which was established by his great-great-grandfather who immigrated from Sweden. Interestingly, throughout the NFL career that earned him around $57 million and two Super Bowl rings, Nelson insisted that he always identified more with being a farmer than a football player. During his career, he returned home to help out on his family’s 4,000 acres, cutting wheat and rounding up cattle. After leaving the football field behind in 2019, he moved back home to Kansas where he acquired his own farm near Riley, where he says he is happy to be “just the farm kid they have always known.” |
Hunter Smith – Former Indianapolis Colts and Washington Punter: Smith grew up on a farm in Texas. When he re-examined his life after being cut by the Redskins in 2012, he and his wife initially looked for a new home in Texas but ended up landing in Indiana, where Smith spent most of his college and pro football careers. “But in the end, it came down to people and the culture of the place, and we could not find a better place to raise children,” he said. After first settling in the suburbs of Indianapolis. “I looked around at our life, and something was wrong,” he said. “Something was missing in my kids’ development.” Smith said he noticed a “real weakness” in their work ethic, their coping ability, and their understanding of what hardships are — and that taking them on matters. He then realized that he learned those values on the 1,000-acre ranch he grew up on. In 2014, they bought 22-acres of land and named it “WonderTree” after a 340-year-old white oak tree on the property. “There are some things that must be done, and they have to be done now. And it doesn’t matter if they’re hard or life-threatening,” Smith said. Those are the life lessons he wanted to sow in his children. “There’s no punting in this job. That’s kind of an interesting irony. Surrender is not an option.” |
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Spencer Waege – Green Bay Packers Defensive End: Spencer Waege might have made a name for himself on the football field, but his heart belongs to the fields of his family’s fifth-generation farm. He still spends the off-season on the farmer helping out where he can and says he stays rooted by remembering that football is “not a guaranteed forever type of job.” Waege enjoys the simplicity of the quiet farm life he grew up in and intends to someday return to his small town of South Shore, South Dakota to carry on the family tradition. |
