When most professional athletes hang up their cleats, retirement often means leisure, coaching, or commentating. Increasingly, though, more are jumping into a different arena: entrepreneurship. With vast amounts of private capital seeking returns and trillions from the Great Wealth Transfer landing in younger, more diverse hands, North Texas has become fertile ground for athlete-entrepreneurs. Sometimes, their second acts prove more lucrative than their playing contracts—and investors are taking notice.
Athletes Who Built Their Own Teams
Troy AikmanNFLEight Beer
Tiffany HaggeTeam USA HockeyCitation Capital
Odessa JenkinsWomen’s Football AllianceWomen’s National Football Conf.
Avery JohnsonNBA
Avery Capital
Michael JohnsonTeam USA Track & FieldMichael Johnson Performance
Ian KinslerMLBWarstic
Sayif SaudUFCFortis MMA
Roger StaubachNFLThe Staubach Co.
Lucious WilliamsNegro Leagues BaseballDikita Enterprises
For years, athletes have carried a reputation for financial mismanagement. ESPN’s 2012 documentary Broke claimed 78 percent of NFL players and 60 percent of NBA players face “financial distress” post-career. A later study by the National Bureau of Economic Research offered a more nuanced picture: after a dozen years out of the league, roughly 15 percent file for bankruptcy.
Still, the stereotype lingers. That’s why the athletes who play it differently—and bring the discipline of elite competition into boardrooms—stand out. Global icons like Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, and Tiger Woods have parlayed their brands into billion-dollar ventures. Increasingly, though, less famous players with sharp business instincts are succeeding, too. “When they have the right business skill set, former professional athletes benefit from the experience of knowing how much hard work it takes to be successful,” Mark Cuban told D CEO.
One such example is Garrett Mills, CEO of Dallas-based Uncommon Brands. A former NFL tight end, Mills played under Andy Reid in Philadelphia, Bill Belichick in New England, and with the Minnesota Vikings. He began his entrepreneurial journey in 2010, while still in the league, when he and his wife launched a Pure Barre franchise. “I always had the feeling that if I died and was remembered only as a football player, I would have left something on the table,” Mills says.
After retiring, he earned an MBA and joined Goldman Sachs’ investment management division, but quickly realized corporate banking wasn’t his calling. In 2017, he pitched investors on acquiring 250 Sonic Drive-Ins. The idea didn’t land, but Wayne Moore, founding partner at Crux Capital, saw promise. “About 30 minutes into that meeting, we stopped him,” Moore recalls. “‘We don’t like this Sonic idea, but we love you.’” That rejection became an opportunity: Moore asked Mills to run Uncommon Brands, a Crux Capital portfolio company that oversees Fuego Tortilla Grill and The Rice Box.
The lesson, Moore says, is that visibility isn’t everything when it comes to athlete-led ventures. “The world’s most recognized athletes leverage their name into opportunities, but they still have to be talented and driven,” he explains. “Garrett is different. He’s excelled at everything: Six years in the NFL, a degree from Northwestern, and now scaling a restaurant group. Backing him was a no-brainer.”
Mills joins a lineage of Dallas-Fort Worth athletes who have built enduring business legacies. Roger Staubach, who launched his real estate firm while still under center for the Cowboys, sold The Staubach Co. to JLL in 2008 for $613 million. His top annual salary in the NFL was $160,000; today, his net worth exceeds $600 million. “Roger is great at relationships and terrific at bringing in first-class people alongside him,” John Goff, an early backer of Captain America’s foray into business, once told D CEO.
For longtime investor and Texas Rangers minority owner Ken Hersh, successful ventures hinge less on celebrity and more on fundamentals. “Oftentimes, the hardest part of starting a business is opening doors,” he says. “Athletes have name recognition. They’re warmly received and have an incredible work ethic and discipline. But not only do they need a compelling value proposition, they need a great business partner. I’m agnostic when it comes to the celebrity aspect of a business owner. I care more about the business—what’s the plan, the vision, the culture?”
Plenty of local athletes are proving him right. Former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman co-founded Eight Beer, a light brew aimed at health-conscious consumers. Before launching, he asked himself three questions: Do I really want to do this? How much time will it take? And do I have the capacity to ensure success? “I don’t view Eight Beer as a job,” Aikman says. “If people are enjoying our product and we’re profitable, that’s my ideal vision of success.”
Others are following similar playbooks. Former San Antonio Spurs point guard and Dallas Mavericks head coach Avery Johnson now runs Avery Capital, a Dallas-based PE firm focused on real estate assets. “I’m still utilizing all the qualities from sports—discipline, resilience, humility,” he says. The biggest lesson: “Don’t get intoxicated by success or paralyzed by failure.”
More under the radar is Lucious Williams, founder of DFW-based Dikita Enterprises and a Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame inductee, who still works out every morning at 6 a.m. at 93 years old. “Sports shaped my character in ways few could imagine,” Williams says. “It also taught me how to be a showman and the power of legacy.”
Few sports compare to the physical demand that occurs during a UFC fight. Former MMA pro Sayif Saud, now owner of a Dallas-based gym, frames entrepreneurship through a combat lens. “There’s nothing scary about business,” he says, “especially compared to having a 220-pound guy trying to take me down. Oh, you want to intimidate me with a low-ball deal? No, not happening.”
Whether in real estate, restaurants, private equity, or fitness, North Texas has become a proving ground for professional athletes’ second acts. Their discipline and drive don’t fade with retirement—they just find new arenas.
Author
Ben Swanger
Ben Swanger
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Ben Swanger is the executive editor for D CEO, the business title for D Magazine. Ben manages the award-winning publication Dallas 500 and is the creator of The City of Champions, a special edition magazine detailing how North Texas became the sports business capital of the world. He's written about how the Adelson family gained control of the Mavs, how de-extinction company Colossal became Texas' first $10 billion private startup, and how Bell won a $100 billion U.S. Army contract. When he's not writing, he's probably busy working on his golf swing.