Some know the name Jake Plummer as one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the PAC-10, leading Arizona State to a PAC-10 championship and an undefeated regular season in 1996. Some know him as the best player to wear #16 in Sun Devil history. Some even know him as the quarterback to lead the Broncos to the 2005 AFC Championship. But now, many know him as just a humble mushroom farmer.

Yes, mushrooms, Plummer is now a co-founder of Mycoclove Farm, a medicinal and culinary mushroom farm located 30 miles outside of Denver. The farm makes about $8,000 a month in revenue by selling mushrooms after a long and tedious growing and extraction process. “It’s not like we discovered this new mushroom. These have been around forever, so we’re just figuring out ways to grow them efficiently, extract them so they’re very potent and then make them available for people that are interested in their health and wellness and preventative maintenance and that are sick and tired of being sick and tired,” Plummer told USA Today.

Plummer had learned about mushroom extracts and their health benefits while working for a CBD company following his retirement in 2007. He had founded Umbo with UFC champion Rashad Evans, however, that company ended up falling flat due to supply-chain issues associated with COVID-19.

After that, Plummer looked toward the farming aspects of mushrooms which led him to open Myclove Farm in October 2021. “It was 16 years ago when I was that guy that would lead a team down the field, and I’ve changed tremendously since then and evolved and grown, but it’s still part of me,” Plummer said. “It doesn’t define me, but it’s part of me. It allows for me to reach more people than just a small audience where I live. … I’m not doing this to make a bunch of money. I’m doing this because it’s helped me, and I figure I have a chance to spread that word.”

Plummer has pushed for the NFL to embrace CBD and hemp products as an alternative to pain killers. When that failed, Plummer discovered mushrooms as a better alternative, “For me, my grandpa had Alzheimer’s and, also doing what I did for a living, I’m trying to do anything that can help me re-grow nerves and help get me back to square one, which is what I’m feeling,” Plummer said. “Everybody wants to live a long life, I would think. I do. Longevity, vitality, not just a long life but living a good life, not just in a wheelchair until you’re 120. I plan to be 110 and still active. That’s my goal.”

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