Blake Martinez’s passionate pursuit of going from a pigskin pro to a Pokemon profiteer has hit a pothole, according to recent reports.
Blake Martinez with the New York Giants | YouTube
The former NFL player decided to hang it up last year to become an entrepreneur. But instead of real estate or commodities, he decided to push Pokemon – the massively successful children’s line that produces everything from trading cards, which has led to spinoffs like clothing to TV shows to video games. And everything in between.
For Blake Martinez, it seemed like the popularity of the product made it an intriguing investment. He began his company, ‘Blake’s Breaks’, and hired a staff of 20 employees with the intention of finding his fortune. And for a while, it seemed like he had spiked it in the endzone: It was reported in July that he had made $11.5 million from his card-trading business in just under a year.
“I just asked myself, do I want to keep starting over from ground zero with football, and keep destroying my body, or do I want to start over from ground zero here, and do something I can actually sustain for a long time?” Martinez said, per The Athletic. “I loved football. But what I found out was I loved building and running my own team even more.”
Unfortunately, Blake Martinez may have fumbled it all away. Recently a Youtuber named “Rattle Pokemon” began posting a series of clips entitled, “Even Former NFL Players Will Scam You On Whatnot?” detailing various allegations against Martinez’s company.
YouTube and Reddit users accused Blake’s Breaks of swapping out high-level packs on streams for lower-level packs. Other allegations include unshipped orders altogether, as well as changing live bets on his channel, to fixing energy card packs to ensure no one betting would have a chance of winning. It would lead to Blake Martinez losing his standing with the high-traffic, Buy & Sell site known as Whatnot.
Does Blake Martinez deserve a second chance? Or should he find a new gig? 🤔👀 pic.twitter.com/MGt3krSG7r
— theScore (@theScore) August 10, 2023
Whatnot reportedly conducted an investigation and found Blake Martinez’s company should be banned from the marketplace. Whatnot added that it refunded buyers impacted by his company, and left open a submission form for anyone to report further incidents.
Blake Martinez appeared in just 64 games between 2017 and 2020, Martinez played in just seven total games over his final two years in the NFL. He was initially on the Raiders’ practice squad in 2022 before deciding to retire that November.