FRISCO — He opened the front door himself — the 30-year-old who has taken a sledgehammer to the trope about NFL players going broke.
There’s Jaylon Smith, shuffling about as “So Amazing” by Beyoncé and Stevie Wonder resonates through his 5,000-square-foot home. His 9-year-old dog, Achilles, meanders. Follow the former Dallas Cowboys linebacker into his office, past the golden skull and giant mirror, for a glimpse into the mind of a man who stands to make more money off the field than the tens of millions he has made over the last decade on the field.
A whiteboard with his hand-written message: “Have you been choosing your favor, or have you been choosing your demise?” Shelves with a globe, a Louis Armstrong record, and boxed bottles of Hennessy. Dozens of books — Weapons of Mass Instruction, The Science of Scaling, The Motivation Manifesto — about which Smith can rattle off quick commentary.
“This one, Rocket Fuel,” he says, “really, really, really good. A business operating book. So, one of my very first investments was in an entrepreneurial operating system.”