Ex-NFL Player Finds New Field, Similar Strategy at RIA Serving Ultra-Wealthy

In his first career, Bennie Fowler was an NFL wide receiver who won the Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos in 2016.

Now, at the outset of his second career, he is helping lead the expansion of markets for Caprock, a multi-family office RIA serving ultra-high-net-worth clients.

"My role at Caprock has a lot to do with my football background because there's a huge element of strategy to football and an emphasis on relationships," Fowler, the firm's new director of strategic development, tells ThinkAdvisor in an interview.

After eight years in the NFL, Fowler retired in 2022 at age 30. In the off-season, he had been training to be a certified executive leadership and life coach. He was certified in 2021.

As part of his training, he worked with more than 150 entrepreneurs and small companies.

In the interview, Fowler — who also played for the New York Giants and New Orleans Saints — explains his mission at Caprock, which has about $11 billion of assets under advisement, and the importance of "understanding [clients'] needs and putting them first."

Here are highlights of our conversation:

THINKADVISOR: What was it like to win the Super Bowl?

BENNIE FOWLER: One of the most incredible opportunities I've ever had. And to have my family there on the field with me celebrating that moment — it was incredible!

It seems like your new job at Caprock is far afield from football. What interested you in the world of business and finance?

The role at Caprock has a lot to do with my football background because there's a huge element of strategy to football and an emphasis on relationships, and building camaraderie and rapport.

That's exactly what I'm going to bring to this role: How to help people understand what we do at Caprock, how we build thoughtful and meaningful partnerships and relationships with our clients, how we get out in the marketplace to be a change for good and opportunity.

My purpose in life is to help people live — and live to their full potential.

What do you consider the most challenging part of your job?

There's a lot to be learned. Money is one of the most intimate things to deal with [when interacting] with people.

So it's coming to them with a sense of respect, being intentional with them, understanding their needs and putting them first — all that is going to be important.

I'll be leaning on my teammates a lot because of their experience in this field.

You retired from the NFL just two years ago, when you were 30. What prompted that?

I had a season-ending injury, though I still had an opportunity to play the following year. But in the NFL, once you turn 30, the teams stop calling.

You have to retire when you turn 30 because you're on the back end of your years, especially playing wide receiver. They can find younger and faster people.

Why did you become a certified executive leadership and life coach through the Co-Active Training Institute?

I wanted to help impact people's lives. I got certified in 2021 during the pandemic. When I retired, I got into executive and leadership coaching.

I worked with over 150 companies — all entrepreneurs and small businesses — in a lot of different industries.

Over the last 17 months, I co-led the family office practice at Michael Best & Friedrich law firm, finding the right solutions for their high-net-worth clients.

You did all that work while you were still with the NFL?

I did it in the off-season. It's part of the training you do to get certified as a coach.

How does that certification help you at Caprock?

My role is to be the strategic quarterback for families in what they're trying to achieve and the legacy they want to leave beyond the wealth they've created.

Will you be coaching your teammates at Caprock?

No. We'll be working together. I'll be opening up the Denver market, where I'm based. I'll also help open other offices and [raise awareness of] the brand of Caprock across the country.

Does your approach to coaching play any part at all in what you'll be doing at Caprock?

Yes, the MVP Leadership Method does because it starts with my mindset of how to help clients and then [focuses on] their mindset as they're going through a transition as an entrepreneur: a growth mindset, a performance mindset and philanthropic mindset.

It's about the vision that clients — investors, entrepreneurs who are exiting companies, athletes — have for their life and family and what they're trying to achieve.

It's about what it means to perform at the highest level at Caprock when we're talking to our clients and the ways we can help them with our platform and outside it.

How will you spread the word about Caprock?

I'll be going out in the marketplace doing a lot of speaking engagements, where I'll educate people about our platform.

I'll be partnering up with other organizations to do incredible work together.

And I'll be spreading the word at dinners, hosting events and sponsoring different types of events.

As a football player, you were also interested in business and finance. Tell me about your family's economic status when you were a child.

I grew up with my parents in a home that gave me a very fortunate and blessed background. My parents did really well for themselves. We talked a lot about financial literacy and financial education.

What's your philosophy about investing your own assets?

I want to put my money to work but understand the pros and cons, and the risks that are involved. So I want to partner with experienced, knowledgeable professionals.

It's no different from someone coming to me [wanting to know] about playing professional sports. I have that experience and expertise.

That's the way I think about investing.

There have been many sad stories about pro athletes who didn't manage their money well. I assume you're not one of them.

No, I'm not, and I don't want to be.