Ex-Corner Eugene Profit Goes From NFL to Wall Street

Stories about NFL retirees, who helped build a league worth $9 billion in annual revenue, are often heartbreaking.

So many of them, even prominent former players, are broke or near bankruptcy because they mismanaged their money early in life, or didn’t plan for life after football. Others are handicapped due to the brutal aspect of the game.

But Damon Hack at Sports Illustrated has a totally and striking different type of story today about former Washington Redskins cornerback Eugene Profit.

From Hack:

“Since embarking on a business career after a torn hamstring forced him out of football in 1991, Profit has thrived in the world of money management, building Profit Investment Management from $100,000 at its creation in 1996 to $2 billion in assets under management today.”

Profit, who studied economics at Yale – where he became “fascinated with the study of money and capital flows,” (Profit’s final thesis was based on corporate strategy and economic analysis) went on to run an investment firm. So the transition from corner to a successful CEO is pretty unique.

Here’s Profit’s view on the lockout:

“I think, to some extent, the players have a good strategy. I also certainly understand the business side of [owners] wanting to control labor costs. But what’s missing is the fans’ frustration or the bars and restaurants that will lose money. When you only look at it as millionaires versus billionaires, those other issues get lost.”