The humble beginnings of Herman Moore were not going to stop him from achieving greatness, even beyond his playing days in the National Football League (NFL).

According to Detroit Free Press, the former Detroit Lions player was taught by his mother the habit of looking at life from a broader perspective, a practice he maintained even in the face of financial difficulties.

“She had me at 21 and worked so many jobs,” Moore told the outlet about growing up in Danville, VA.

He continued, “We were a low-income family. We lived on less than $18,000 a year. But she made sure my sister and I always knew the endgame. We lived in government housing and were on food stamps, but that is not an excuse to not excel in life and to also help others.”

Moore would lay his own foundation for generational wealth-building in 1991 after being drafted to the Detroit Lions and signing a three-year $2.4 million contract with the team, which included a $1.2 million signing bonus, according to Spotrac.

Moore remained on the team for the majority of his career. In 2001, he played for the New York Giants and retired his jersey. In total, he earned $27.2 million in career earnings, per the outlet.

In retirement, Moore needed a firmer grasp of what it took to run a business, but he was willing to learn. Ultimately, Moore became a franchise owner of 17 Cinnabon stores in Michigan and Florida by 2003 through his H.J.M. Enterprises LLC, as mentioned in a news release.

Moore reportedly owned every Cinnabon franchise in those states in the early 2000s. He was also a Mail Boxes Etc. franchisee in Rochester, NY.

“I started in business as my playing career was concluding. I had a lot of success early on, and as I continued to grow, I also had some failures because I was so dependent on the information that people told me versus what I really knew. Because of that, I learned all the major facets of business and details that go into being the owner of a business,” Moore told the Detroit Free Press.

After more than a decade, Moore launched a new venture. He formed marketing agency Team 84 LLC in 2013, in honor of his jersey number while with the Detroit Lions, to pursue opportunities in technology, manufacturing, entrepreneurship, business solutions, staffing, and product creation, per the company website.

“Team 84 comprises multiple businesses through partnerships, equity partnerships, and acquisitions. We do things a little bit differently and expand the opportunities,” the founder shared with the Detroit Free Press. 

He added, “So, what are those businesses? There’s contract manufacturing and product development. We have specialized marketing and branding services, focusing mainly on influencer brand development. And we’re getting into content production, encouraging a new generation of content creators, and helping traditional content creators adopt new methods.”

Team 84 LLC is also dedicated to philanthropy. Moore formed a foundation to ensure youth in Michigan and Virginia will receive mental, nutritional, recreational, and academic opportunities. In the same way that his mother was a beacon of hope for him, he is looking to do the same through the Herman Moore Tackle Life Foundation.

“I was lucky enough to have strong people in my life who taught me at a young age what it meant to win as a man both off and on the football field,” Moore said in a statement from the company website.