Ex-NFL player Jason Brown quit football at age 29 to become a farmer who feeds the hungry

Tony Manfred, National Post Wire Services | November 20, 2014 12:21 PM ET
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CBS/Business InsiderJason Brown is doing this to help the less fortunate. He grows sweet potatoes and other vegetables, and donates his harvest to food pantries.

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In 2009 Jason Brown signed a five-year, US$37.5-million contract with the St. Louis Rams that made him the highest-paid centre in the NFL.

‘It’s really madness to risk your body’: Why a Denver Broncos player suddenly walked away from the NFL and more than $1M

Five years later, after earning more than $25 million of that contract, Brown is a farmer who’s helping to feed the hungry.

CBS News caught up with Brown in Louisburg, North Carolina, where he runs a 1,000-acre farm after learning how to grow crops on YouTube.

Brown was drafted 124th overall in 2005 and played nine seasons in the NFL before getting cut by the Rams in the spring of 2012.