As a die hard fan of sweet pastries and donuts, it’s not hard to imagine how sweet it would be to own 25 Dunkin’ Donuts franchises. That’s what one NFL player can boast, but Ricky Jean Francois (Mr. peanut butter and jelly time) has a different reason for owning his donut shops than you might think.
He’s doing it for the right reasons, thinking ahead to the future when football is in his rear-view mirror.
“When the big money came in,” Jean Francois said, via Fox Sports Radio, “I was like, ‘I need a retirement plan right now. I need a retirement plan that can grow right now, so at the time when I actually walk out of the NFL, I don’t have to let the NFL be my identity. Teams can look at me like, ‘OK, he’s a business man. He’s a smart guy. He knows what he’s doing with his money.’
“I’m going on year nine, and I have so many different investments and opportunities, so the day I have to walk out of the league, I won’t have those second guesses. I won’t be those guys you see on ’30-for-30.’ I won’t be those percentage of guys that goes broke. . . . I want to be that guy on top. When the league talks about, ‘This is what you do with your money,’ they actually show a picture of me.”
Jean-Francois, originally a seventh-round pick out of LSU, is now with the Green Bay Packers. He signed a one-year deal this offseason worth up to $2 million.
According to Spotrac, his total career cash earnings are over $18.8 million, and it is apparent he’s used a nice chunk of that to invest in his future. Speaking of the future, he’s also invested in some off-the-wall stuff (look here).
It’s a sound business strategy that should pay off nicely in his latter years, and it’s one more NFL players should look to emulate.