Malcolm Jenkins Plans To Be The Top Fast Casual Food Industry Franchisee

Malcolm Jenkins was never just a football player.

Yes, he won the Super Bowl twice, including one with the Philadelphia Eagles back in 2018. But he was also an activist, and these days he plans to conquer the fast casual food industry, according to Afro Tech.

In an interview with WHYY News, a public media organization in Philly, Jenkins focused on his business interests, referring to them as the driving force behind his choice to forego a potential $6 million with the NFL when he exited in 2022.

“I felt confident in my ability to survive and my own acumen, so that’s a blessing,” Jenkins told WHYY News. “Most people don’t get to step away from the game. Their contract ends or the team tells you you’re not good enough anymore or you get injured.”

But this isn’t anything new for Jenkins, as he had an eye for being an entrepreneur while he was playing in the NFL. He launched Rock Avenue Bow Ties in 2013, according to the Columbus Dispatch, and then he opened up a brick-and-mortar retail store Damari, according to WHYY News.

As of today, he has an extensive portfolio, which comprises media, apparel, tech, restaurants, and real estate, according to his website.

His portfolio includes Disrupt Foods, a multi-unit franchise developer and operator that encompasses over 20 quick-service restaurants, including Papa John’s and Wingstop. The venture helps provide ownership opportunities to minorities, according to the website.

“If there’s a mission for me and how I’m moving now, what I want to have an impact on is really educating people on the power of group economics,” Jenkins expressed to WHYY News. “People when they have success, most of the time they do it as a collective family, as a community. Owning businesses in their own communities. When you look at [Black communities] we don’t own the majority of the businesses in it. We don’t own homes most of the time. It just continues to push us into pockets of poverty that are harder and harder to climb out of as an individual.”

But for Jenkins, it’s all about his goal with Disrupt Foods to be the leading Black-owned franchisee in the fast casual food sector nationwide.

“It makes no sense for every guy in the [NFL] league who wants to get into franchising to find an operator, go buy their own store, do all of those things when most people just want the exposure in their portfolio,” he explained, according to WHYY News. “Like, I’m not making any pizzas. But I’ve got a team around me that can execute these things.”