Matt Elam is nothing if not enterprising.
The Baltimore Ravens' 2013 first-round pick, who negotiated his own rookie contract without an agent, wanted to boost his retail knowledge in hopes of one day opening a sports merchandise store.
So the 22-year-old safety, who made $405,000 in 2013, found a part-time job during the offseason at a Finish Line store in Gainesville, Fla.
It's not entirely unheard of for NFL players to find offseason employment, but Elam is a starter with lots of upside.
“I just need to get retail knowledge,” Elam told BaltimoreRavens.com. "That's basically what I'm doing. I'm getting that knowledge for when it's time.”
Elam is a part-time sales associate, working 20 hours a week while also completing his degree in anthropology at Florida. He says his time at Finish Line has reinforced his desire to some day open his own sporting goods store.
"I know you can't do football forever. I'm going to use it to benefit me when I'm doing so that my kids won't have to worry about this,” Elam said. "I take a lot of pride in that because I feel like a lot of kids are blind to this, and don’t have these opportunities, and don’t have the knowledge. I hope I can open a lot of their eyes."
