Linebacker Blake Martinez will return to the NFL with the Carolina Panthers after retiring to sell Pokémon cards. (Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) (Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
After his failed experience in the world of selling P collector cardsokay, el linebacker Blake Martinez announced his return to the NFL with the Carolina Panthers, team for which he could debut this weekend. Martinez returns after leaving the field prematurely in November 2022. Unlike cases like Luke Kuechly and Chris Borland, he did not indicate that it will be treated for a physical or mental health issue.
Martinez, 29 years old, was banned from the Whatnot card sales platform considering that his account, “Blake’s Breaks,” scammed several users, precipitating his return to American football.
A solid tackler and surprise retirement
The decision to hang up the helmet was particularly surprising given the timing of the announcement. Martinez, at 28 years old, was still at an optimal age to play the sport, and was an important piece of the Las Vegas Raiders. So much so, that in his last game before hanging up his helmet he led the team with 11 tackles in the loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Blake Martinez retired midway through the 2022 season to pursue a career as a Pokémon collector card seller. (Heidi Fang/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) (Las Vegas Review-Journal via Getty Images)
Throughout his career, Martinez has been recognized for his wide range on the field of play and his ability to stop opponents when they have the ball. Selected in the fourth round of the 2016 Draft by the Green Bay Packers, the linebacker’s impact was immediately noticeable, as he was named the starter since his rookie season.
However, it was in 2017 when he made the leap and became a player to watch. With 144 total tackles, he tied for the NFL lead in that area, and the following year he would repeat that same number in addition to getting 5 sacks, the highest total of his career so far. After a 2019 in which he added 155 tackles, he tested free agency, where he signed with the New York Giants for 3 years and 30 million dollars.
Things did not go as expected in the Big Apple
With the Giants, Martinez had a standout first season. Everything seemed to keep the same path. With his 151 tackles in 2020 he finished third in that area in the NFL, just 13 behind Zach Cunningham. Everything would change very quickly in 2021.
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A knee injury meant the end of Blake Martinez’s stay with the New York Giants. (Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) (Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
A knee injury in Week 3 would sideline him for the rest of the campaign, and prior to the start of the 2022 season, the new Giants regime would consider that he would not fit into the team’s plans, so they released him. A few weeks later, the Stanford graduate would sign with the Raiders, where he would only play four games.
His passion for selling cards ends in scandal
Martinez announced his retirement from the NFL on November 10, 2022, citing that he wanted to dedicate himself to his “family and future passions.” It was later revealed that The decision came after selling a collectible Pokémon card for $650,000.
In his first 7 months dedicated to card sale, Blake sold for more than $5 millions, and he noted that the best thing was that the only physical pain he felt could be that of his fingers from opening thousands of packs of cards, comparing it to the physical pain he endured after every practice or football game.
However, a series of accusations against the Blake’s Breaks account, including an 8-episode series published by YouTuber “Rattle Pokemon,” led to the suspension of the Whatnot account. Martinez published a video in which he indicated that there was no bad intention on the part of the company or the collaborator accused of suspicious behavior, but he was still removed from the platform.
The company was dedicated to opening envelopes of cards in live streaming for 16 hours a day, which could be purchased by users. During a little less than a year that the company lasted on the platform, he would have sold more than 11 million dollars in cards.
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