Blake Martinez Set To Make NFL Return After Being In Headlines For Pokemon Scam

Blake Martinez, a former fourth-round selection, quit football in November 2022 and soon after became extremely wealthy by selling Pokemon cards. Martinez now looks to be focused on making a comeback to the NFL after becoming embroiled in a significant issue among the Pokemon community.

Blake Martinez Set To Make NFL Return After Being In Headlines For Pokemon Scam

NFL Network reports that the 29-year-old former linebacker worked out for the Carolina Panthers earlier this week. Martinez is making a return effort two months after being banned from the card marketplace WhatNot and accused of defrauding card collectors.

Nevertheless, Martinez was permanently barred from WhatNot, the main marketplace for Pokémon buyers and sellers, in August when it was alleged that he had conned other fans.

The 29-year-old, who is trying to make a return to the NFL two months later, worked out for the Panthers on Wednesday, according to NFL Network.

In a June Instagram video, Martinez stated that he was planned to concentrate on his company and had “no itch” to go back to playing.

Before the 2020 season, Martinez signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Giants. He participated in all 16 games that season and recorded 151 tackles.

Martinez became a full-time Pokemon card dealer and made over $5 million in earnings in only seven months after retiring. WhatNot first inquired into his firm Blake’s Breaks in August, and the business then declared that Martinez will be removed from the company permanently.

Blake Martinez played with the Green Bay Packers for four seasons, and then the New York Giants for two more. Three games into the 2021 season with New York, he suffered an ACL tear that prevented him from playing until the end of the season. Martinez managed to get on the Las Vegas Raiders squad in 2022, but after just four games, he decided to retire and focus on the Pokemon card market full-time.

Martinez fought his way into the Raiders team and appeared in four games with them in 2022 before opting to devote all of his attention to his Pokémon endeavors through Blake’s Breaks, a side project he began in the early days of COVID.

“Every single day when I wake up, my shoulder doesn’t hurt and my back doesn’t hurt anymore,” Martinez told CNBC Make It. “When all that hurts are my fingers from opening, like, 1,000 packs of cards per day, I think, ‘I’m going to keep doing this.’”

The Packers selected the Stanford graduate 131st overall in the 2016 NFL Draft.

 

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