Jason Brown, former center for the St. Louis Rams, was let go by the team in 2012 after a seven year career in the NFL. He was 29 at the time. Brown might have been able to make another team, but instead of complaining about his career being cut short by perhaps a younger, bigger and stronger athlete, in his words he looked at it “as an opportunity for another door to be opened in my life.”
That door was an entry into farming…
Bear in mind, Jason Brown was no slouch in the NFL. In 2009 he signed a five-year contract worth nearly $40 million with the St. Louis Rams. Upon leaving the league, he explains how his agent told him he was making the biggest mistake of his life.
Jason was unfazed.
As he explains, by taking that leap of faith to switch from NFL lineman to a farmer, “everything just started lining up.” A man of deep faith, Jason attributes his newfound entrepreneurial and charitable success to God. His first harvest yielded 46,000 pounds of sweet potatoes that he gave to charity. This is a great man and entrepreneur in every sense of the words. He demonstrates all the characteristics of the best entrepreneurs: perseverance, humility, taking risk, selflessness and confidence.
Jason describes his career as a farmer as the “most rewarding thing I’ve done with my life. And it’s living a life with purpose.” Incredible story.
Entrepreneurship is not about the money you make, it’s about the opportunities for others that your business creates.
Stay hungry,
Aaron
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