A.J. Francis is going to make $510,000 this year at his day job. But he’s still going to pick up a few bucks on the side doing something he loves — driving and meeting new people.
The Dolphins backup defensive tackle has started his career as an Uber driver, and is making $40 to $50 an hour shuttling people throughout South Florida.
“I’m not putting all my eggs in one basket,” Francis said, via the Associated Press. “Where I’m from, when you have a job, where are you when that job is over?”
While the Dolphins have had a kicker hurt playing kickball this offseason, they have no issues with his side job.
“Yeah, I was kidding him about Uber or Yuber or whatever you call it,” defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle said. “It’s a little outside the box, but so is he.”
Rather than just take his fares to their destinations, he videotapes conversations with the people he’s driving and posts them on YouTube, as he polishes up for a future in broadcasting. And he’s a talker, as coach Joe Philbin said he’d recommend Francis as a driver, “But I would suggest that they bring some earplugs along.”
Francis is also working on a master’s degree in international security and economic policy, and his wife respects the fact he’s putting capitalism into play.
“I admire him for it,” she said. “You always have to have a hustle, you know? Football is something that doesn’t last forever.”
He said he’s going to stop giving strangers lifts once training camp starts, so he can devote himself to the day job, lest he end up back on the taxi squad.