From the NFL to NIL: How Cody Chrest Found His Second Career (and Why Athletes Keep Getting It Wrong with Money)

This week Garrett and Matt sit down with their Entrepreneur Lounge partner, Cody Chrest. Houston native, Harvard and Sam Houston State football alum, and former Green Bay Packer turned financial advisor.

Cody shares the story he’s never fully told: how he sat in the parking lot of three or four networking events and drove home before he ever walked into one, and how the event he finally forced himself to attend (in his words, “a really bad event”) is the one where he met Garrett, launched a partnership, and ultimately gave him the confidence to walk away from football for good.

From there the conversation turns to the work the three of them are doing now with NIL and pro athletes. Nineteen year olds with seven figure deals and no plan. Players transferring away from schools they love just to cover a tax bill. Six figures parked in a money market account at a 1.5% fee. Advisors who will only take an email during business hours from kids who are in class, film, and weights all day.

They break down their actual process: quarterly tax planning, showing an athlete what they will owe if they do nothing versus what they will save, then giving every dollar a job and automating it so a $50,000 check does not feel like $50,000 to spend. Plus the real payoff Cody keeps coming back to. An athlete who is not lying awake studying finances is an athlete who can focus on the game.

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