Devon Kennard, The NFL Linebacker Who Built a 50 Rental Portfolio

Most NFL players are broke within five years of retirement. The statistic gets repeated so often it’s become background noise, but the numbers are real, and the trajectory is brutal: big contracts, bigger lifestyles, a career that ends in your 20s or 30s, and a financial cliff that arrives faster than anyone planned for. Devon Kennard isn’t one of those statistics. He played eight seasons in the NFL as a linebacker for the Giants, Lions, and Cardinals. He also bought his first rental as a rookie, kept buying throughout his career, and walked away from the game with 50+ properties, 50+ syndication investments, and a private lending business he runs with his wife Camille out of Phoenix. He’s now the author of It All Adds Up and one of the most thoughtful voices in real estate on how high earners should actually deploy their income while they’re earning it. I asked him six questions about building a portfolio while working 80-hour weeks, the most expensive mistake high earners make, and what he’d tell his 25-year-old self. His answers are the most useful financial advice you’ll read this year if you have a W2 and a paycheck you don’t know what to do with. 1. How to Buy Your First Five...