I was a National Champion with the Florida Gators and played in NFL now I run my own CBD oil business… – The US Sun

AFTER winning two National Championships and spending six seasons in the NFL, a former Florida Gator has kickstarted his own business.

One of the stars of the long-awaited Netflix Untold docuseries on Urban Meyers' Florida Gators, titled Swamp Kings, former linebacker Brandon Spikes has lived a remarkably varied post-NFL life.

3

3

Originally from North Carolina, football offered Spikes a path toward a brighter future.

In the documentary, Spikes discussed his tough childhood, explaining how "Football was my way out. Out of it all."

In 2006 he headed for Florida, joining a Gators program that was on the rise under their young head coach.

Spikes went on to solidify himself as a legend down in Gainesville, winning two BCS National Championships while being named a Consensus All-American twice, and an All-SEC First-Teamer three times.

Come 2010, it was time for Spikes to take the next step, ultimately being selected in the second round of the NFL Draft by the New England Patriots.

He spent four seasons with the Patriots, starting 39 of his 51 appearances, racking up 286 tackles, twelve defended passes, and four forced fumbles.

In 2014, Spikes headed for the Buffalo Bills where he'd go on to play in all sixteen games that season, starting ten.

He subsequently returned to New England, although this proved to be an ill-fated move as he was released less than a month later after running into trouble with the law.

Spikes eventually pled guilty to having left the scene of an accident, as per The Athletic, and went on to miss the 2015 season.

The following year, while working as a certified credit investor, he reached out to his former head coach Bill Belichick for help.

"I wanted to give up. I really did until I reached out to Bill," he told The Athletic.

"I reached out to everybody, people I trusted and loved, and they just couldn't give me an answer why I wasn't in the league.

"So I was like, 'F**k it, I'm about to call Bill.' So I called Bill Belichick, and of course, he answered on the first ring."

Belichick put Spikes in touch with an agent, David Canter, who managed to get him a one-year deal back in Buffalo.

Eleven appearances later, and his time in the NFL came to an end.

Spikes' next career venture took him to Canter's agency where he worked for the post-career affairs department.

Meanwhile, he also founded SpikesCBDX, which produces CBD-infused creams, oils, and gels.

"Throughout my career in the NFL, I always wanted to help myself and other athletes avoid injuries and recover quickly, without medications and their side effects," Spikes wrote on their website.

"This was the driver behind the Spikes CBDX product line, creating products all athletes could benefit from."

Fast forward to 2023, and Spikes has gone on to enter a new chapter of his post-NFL career, as a student assistant coach for the Gators.

Speaking to FloridaGators.com, he explained: "I just want to bring value and basically get this thing back to how we left it. I've seen how it should be done.

"You don't come to Florida to be mediocre. The bar is set, and I will do everything in my power to enforce what is set here."

3

The rest is here:

I was a National Champion with the Florida Gators and played in NFL now I run my own CBD oil business... - The US Sun