“Just win, baby!” That’s been the motto of the Raiders for decades but now it comes to mind that it’s never been specified that winning was exclusive to the football field. What if a Raider just keeps winning in Pokémon, baby? That’s linebacker Blake Martinez’s plan as he hung up his pads and cleats after selling a rare card for $672,000.
The Las Vegas Raiders, one of the storied NFL teams who actually began life in 1960 in the then-rival AFL as the Oakland Raiders, have been experiencing one horrendous season. After the Raiders finished with a commendable 10-7 record last year, they did something puzzling. They moved on from interim coach Rich Bisaccia, who led them to their quality season, to hire a more familiar name, Josh McDaniels. Despite the name, however, McDaniels has never posted a winning record as an NFL head coach. His only stint before was with the Denver Broncos where he was fired in just his second season. His reputation was earned as a coordinator with the New England Patriots under coach Bill Belichick.
Now, McDaniels has led the Raiders to a poor start, a nearly unthinkable 2-7 record that even has his quarterback frustrated.
Perhaps the situation motivated the Raiders linebacker to retire. Martinez is 28 years old and in his seventh year as a pro, having played four years with the Green Bay Packers and two with the New York Giants before this year, his first with the Raiders. In his career, he’s played in a total of 84 games and started 78 of them and he even led the NFL with 144 total tackles in 2017.
He also has a passion for Pokémon. You’ll see Martinez often posting about it on social media, and he even previously mentioned that his Pokémon card collection is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. He also has a goal of owning every Pokémon card ever made.
In 2020, Martinez had singed a three-year deal with the Giants worth $30 million. After an ACL injury in 2021, he restructured his deal this year to $1.25 million and was then released. The Raiders picked him up in October, singing him to a contract worth $311,000. Then something odd happened. He sold a rare 1998 Pokémon Illustrator Pikachu card at an auction for $672,000 last month. Not long afterwards, he abruptly announced his retirement despite being in the middle of the NFL season.
Likely considering his injury last year, his declining salary, the failures of the Raiders this season, and the fact that he just doubled his salary by selling a card, Martinez seems to have made a choice that at first seems crazy until you realize it actually makes sense. Of course, he almost certainly has millions of dollars in his bank account as well. Let’s not forget that selling Pokémon cards has a significantly lower injury risk than playing football. Plus, Martinez likely viewed himself towards the end of his career anyway.
Don’t be surprised if you soon hear about him selling more cards worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even though he was an outstanding NFL player, he won’t make it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but maybe someday there will be a Pokémon Hall of Fame and, if so, you’ll likely find Blake Martinez’s name there.