Once upon a time, Jason Brown was the highest-paid center in the NFL.
Now, he’s doing something even more rewarding.
Via Aaron Moody of the Raleigh News and Observer, the former Ravens and Rams center became a farmer after he retired, and is turning over his harvest to his local community.
Brown struck it rich in football when he signed a five-year, $37.5 million deal with the Rams in free agency in 2009. When he retired after being released in 2012, he bought a 1,000-acre farm near Louisburg, N.C., and he began giving away crops from his First Fruits Farm to local charities.
“If we’re truly going to inspire change, if if we’re truly going to see change in our food system and in ending hunger, we’re going to have to give our best,” Brown said in a video posted by UNC. “More people take interest in saying, ‘Well, hold on a second, why did this NFL player give up his career and all of that money to be a farmer?’ And what it’s caused is, there’s many more First Fruits Farms and and First Fruits Gardens popping up all over the world, and that’s awesome.”
The University of North Carolina product just had 40,000 pounds of sweet potatoes unloaded near campus, donating his entire crop to area food pantries and shelters.