Few people with $39 million football contracts would use their time off to drive a combine or corral a 1,000-cow herd. But Green Bay Packer Jordy Nelson, apparently, is not most people.
The star wide receiver works five to six weeks a year on his family’s 4,000-acre Kansas farm, he told ESPN Magazine, sometimes putting in 12-hour days. ”I probably identify more as a farmer [than a football player],” he said. His favorite farm job: “Working cattle.” Nelson has been cutting wheat and driving it into town by the tractor-load since before he had his license.
His family’s farm is in Riley, Kansas, the 992-person town where he starred as a high school quarterback, Business Insider notes. From there he went to Kansas State and in 2008, he was drafted by the pros. The 30 year old signed a four-year contract extension last year, with $11.5 million of the money guaranteed.
Nelson isn’t the only famous farmer out there: Former St. Louis Rams player Jason Brown quit his football job last year to farm. And who could forget Chris Soules, the most recent Bachelor, who is also an Iowa pig farmer?