With NFL training camps set to kick off at the end of the month, ESPN takes a look at the unique side hustles and off-field business dealings of a few players in a new feature.
Along with New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees—who is heavily invested in the restaurant business—former Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins is also featured. He owns a designer menswear store in Philadelphia, where he won a Super Bowl with the Eagles last season.
“First he created a bow tie line called Rock Avenue, then upped the ante by opening Damari Savile, a brick-and-mortar in Philadelphia, last summer,” ESPN writes of Jenkins, was drafted by the Saints in 2009 and was a rookie on the 2010 Super Bowl winning team. “Although he has a demanding full-time job and a host of other outside interests, Jenkins likes to be hands-on where he can.”
Another player with Louisiana ties included in the feature is Indianapolis Colts defensive lineman Al Woods, a third-generation cattleman.
“He spends most, if not all, of the offseason working on his family’s farm in Elton, Louisiana—a town of about 1,130 people. Woods and his family have about 150 Black Angus, Brangus and Bremer cattle. He starts each morning on the farm at 5 a.m. and takes care of three fields, checking the fence lines, the water, the health of the cattle, and he feeds them,” reads the feature.
As for Brees, his business dealings are pretty well known to locals. He’s a franchise owner or business partner of several Jimmy John’s sandwich shops, in addition to being a partner in the Walk-On’s sports bar franchise and the Waitr food-delivery app—and he even moonlighted as a Waitr delivery guy for a promotion in May.
