Jake Plummer was a NFL quarterback for 10 year, spending six years with the Arizona Cardinals and four with the Denver Broncos. He retired from the league in 2007, and has now taken up a new and very different challenge than football: mushroom farming in Colorado.
Plummer, now 47 years old, is a co-founder of Mycolove Farm, which grows and sells locally grown medicinal and culinary mushrooms and mushroom extracts. He told USA Today’s Parker Gabriel more about that:
“It’s not like we discovered this new mushroom. These have been around forever, so we’re just figuring out ways to grow them efficiently, extract them so they’re very potent and then make them available for people that are interested in their health and wellness and preventative maintenance and that are sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
Plummer learned about the medicinal properties of mushroom extracts while working for a CBD company after he retired from the NFL. He eventually co-founded a company called Umbo, which made and sold mushroom bars and supplements. After that company folded during the pandemic, he explored farming mushrooms.
This is no small undertaking, either. USA Today reports that Mycolove Farm brings in about $8,000 in monthly revenue.
Plummer acknowledges that a career as a mushroom farmer is very different than his time as an NFL quarterback, but also said that his time as an NFL quarterback will always be a part of him.
“It was 16 years ago when I was that guy that would lead a team down the field, and I’ve changed tremendously since then and evolved and grown, but it’s still part of me,” he said. “It doesn’t define me, but it’s part of me. It allows for me to reach more people than just a small audience where I live. … I’m not doing this to make a bunch of money. I’m doing this because it’s helped me, and I figure I have a chance to spread that word.”
It is quite the change from his time slinging footballs, and the NFL world certainly had a lot to say about Plummer’s new career.
Jake the Shitake https://t.co/rgFboC6rLp
— Joseph Bien-Kahn (@jbienkahn) July 10, 2022
@ParkerJGabriel getting it done to my west.
Yeah, so is Plummer.
Interesting read … https://t.co/7ESBEqkULr— Steven Sipple (@steven_sipple) July 9, 2022
Fascinating story here https://t.co/iV9L2kkDcq
— Tom Schad (@Tom_Schad) July 9, 2022
Jake Plummer retired instead of playing for Tampa Bay. I forget that sometimes.
This is a pretty cool post-NFL career story: https://t.co/f9kFpU1o7p
— Mike Kaye (@mike_e_kaye) July 9, 2022
This guy was always a G https://t.co/7HeCsi3Shl
— C3 Panthers Podcast (@Cat_Chronicles) July 10, 2022
This guy was a high ranked racquetball player at one time as well.
Former NFL QB Jake Plummer is now a mushroom farmer in Colorado https://t.co/r7sgFYlWuD
— Rocket City 🚀 Sports & Rec. (@BrianWilMadeIT) July 12, 2022
This is not the first time Plummer has made headlines for his post-retirement life. Plummer also became a high-ranking handball player following his NFL career.
It would appear that there’s never been a dull day in Plummer’s life.
