Blake Martinez - Former NFL Linebacker And Pokemon Millionaire - Accused Of Scamming Card Collectors

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Blake Martinez, the former fourth-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, has made a fortune selling Pokemon cards since officially retiring from football in November 2022. Whether he's done so in good faith, well, that's up for debate now.

Martinez got into the business of buying and selling Pokemon cards in 2020 and really went head first the following year after tearing his ACL. In seven months, Martinez amassed over $5 million in revenue as a full-time Pokemon card dealer.

Martinez's business 'Blake's Breaks' is now being questioned by WhatNot, a major marketplace in the Pokemon world.

“After a comprehensive investigation into Blakesbreaks’ operations, we have decided to permanently remove the seller from our platform, including the individual employees involved in misconduct,” trading card marketplace WhatNot said in a statement.

WhatNot also announced it has refunded all buyers who were impacted by "the infractions."

A video on Reddit has gone viral in the Pokemon space accusing Martinez's company of swapping out higher-level packs for lesser-value packs.

Martinez has since responded to the accusations during a live stream saying "I understand the optics" while also noting that he has "a target" on his back being a former professional athlete in the space.

The 29-year-old played 84 games in the NFL, but I can assure you he's not looking to go into battle.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.