Classic card of the week

Rob Konrad, 1999 Topps

Rob Konrad is one happy fellow. Perhaps it is because he has reached the open field, with no defenders in sight. Perhaps it is because, as this card subtly mentions many, many times, he is a 1999 NFL Draft pick. Or, perhaps it is his new, boy-band-infused haircut:



Either way, Rob Konrad is living large. Let us discover more.

It is not often a team can find a player with the size of a small lineman, the speed of a tailback, and the pass catching ability of a tight end.

Indeed, Rob Konrad encompassed, in one person, what every NFL team was looking for at the time: small linemen, fast tailbacks, and the pass-catching ability of a blocker. Unfortunately for Rob Konrad, he played none of these positions in the NFL, but was, rather, a fullback. But Rob Konrad, it should be stated, did and continues to do what fullbacks do best: manage wealth via private equity funds. Sayeth Wikipedia:

Konrad is currently the CEO of Alterna Wealth Management (a registered investment advisor), he also one of the founding partners of KT Capital Partners., (private equity fund) that owns and actively manages portfolio companies throughout the United States.

There goes Rob Konrad, defying the stereotype that jack-of-all-trades NFL Draft picks cannot succeed financially post-retirement. No wonder he is so happy –- he knows something we don’t know. I wish there were a word bubble over his head on the back of this card that read: This stupid cameraman probably has no idea how to diversify his portfolio.

At only 31 years of age, he became the youngest member of the Investment Advisory Council in the history of the Florida State Board of Administration. Konrad was voted Chairman of the IAC in the Spring of 2009.

At 31 years of age I was zoning out at my kitchen table while our financial advisor tried to explain to me for the seventh time what a “mutual fund” is, so Rob Konrad and I are pretty much the same person.

Allow me to conclude, news-magazine-television-show style...

To quote a late-90’s popular boy band, “I want it that way,” which is what Rob Konrad could often be heard saying during board meetings while discussing various methods by which to manage pension plans. This is what has made him so successful, and so happy. Because for Rob Konrad, within the field of investing, there are no defenders in sight.

Up next on 60 Minutes, Andy Rooney talks about how shirts aren’t what they used to be.

Did you know?
Jim Brown and Rob Konrad are the only two players to ever have their numbers retired by Syracuse University AND star in the 1996 film Original Gangstas, except for Konrad, who did not star in the 1996 film Original Gangstas.