Jack Brewer

Jack Brewer (born January 8, 1979) is a former American football safety who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings, the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Arizona Cardinals. He attended Grapevine High School in Grapevine, Texas, where he competed in football and track, and played football while earning both bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Minnesota. Brewer now serves as the CEO of The Brewer Group, Chair of Center for Opportunity Now at America First Policy Institute, White House Presidential Appointee as the Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys, Board Member, for the Federal Enforcement Homeland Security Foundation, Vice Chair of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice State Advisory Group, Founder & Executive Director of The Jack Brewer Foundation, on the Board of Directors at the Geo Group, Inc, and a Fox News, Yahoo Finance, & NewsMax TV Media Contributor.

Early life
Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Brewer grew up in nearby Grapevine where he stood up to white supremacy hate groups during his adolescent years. He went on to graduate with honors from Grapevine High School in 1997. Brewer was a team captain in football and 4 year letter winner in track in high school. Brewer won the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics in the Triple Jump in 1994 and was the number one ranked triple jumper in the nation entering High School. Brewer set school records in every grade and went on to advance to the Regional track meet as a true freshman on varsity. As a senior wide receiver in 1996, Brewer had 51 catches for 941 yards and ten touchdowns. Brewer was a team captain and led the 15–0 team to the University Interscholastic League 4A state title, the first in the schools 90 year history. Brewer was a Texas Top 100 ranked recruit and two way player who had over 100 tackles his senior season. Brewer was All-State in Football and Track, where he held the state record in triple jump with a leap of 51 feet and 4 inches, including winning the Texas Relays. As a blue chip recruit, Brewer received over 41 Division 1 football and track scholarship offers and graduated with a 3.4 GPA.

College career
As a freshman, Brewer attended Southern Methodist University (SMU) where he played wide receiver and was an All-American Candidate and a Disney World Record Holder for track. He had 19 receptions for 352 yards and four touchdowns in the season for the SMU Mustangs in 1997. Brewer transferred to the University of Minnesota after one year at SMU. At Minnesota, Brewer redshirted the 1998 season per NCAA transfer rules before regaining his eligibility as a redshirt sophomore.

His sophomore and junior seasons, Brewer was a two way player, starting games at defensive back and wide receiver, while leading the special teams in tackles. As a Junior, Brewer was third on the team with 22 catches for 286 yards. Brewers physical play helped him finish his senior season with 155 tackles, a school record at the University of Minnesota. Brewer was a vocal team captain who was a first team All Big Ten selection at defensive back by the media after leading the Big Ten Conference in tackles with 14.1 per game and 16.2 per game for Big Ten contests. Brewer had record breaking games, including a 25 tackle performance against the University of Michigan, a 21 tackle game against Ohio State University and 18 tackles against Northwestern.

Brewers record breaking season crowned him as the Nation's Leading Tackler for Defensive Backs in 2001. He earned the Carl Eller Award for outstanding defensive player, and the Paul Giel Award for most unselfish player with most concern for the university. He was also selected to play in the East–West Shrine Game, where NFL scouts expressed to him that they were impressed with his nose for the ball. Brewer was a 3 time Academic All-Big 10 Award winner who earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Minnesota at the age of 22, prior to going to the National Football League.

Professional Sports Career
In 2002, Brewer was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as a free agent. In his first year with the Vikings, Brewer played in 15 games and had one start. He led the team with 26 special teams tackles, five tackles against the Buffalo Bills which tied him for second most in a game in team history and the most special teams tackles in a game since Harold Morrow's five against Tampa Bay. Brewers’ first career interception came in a sold out conference rivalry game against the Green Bay Packers. Brewer intercepted Brett Favre to seal the victory for the Minnesota Vikings. The play ended in a late hit by Favre as well as a punch to the face mask of Brewer, which later resulted in a league fine against Favre.

In Brewer's second year with the Vikings, he was voted a Team Captain and played in six games; he was inactive for the first three games of the season after suffering a chest injury in preseason. On October 26, 2003, he blocked a Jeff Feagles punt against the New York Giants – the Vikings' first blocked punt since 1989. The Vikings waived Brewer on March 17, 2004.

On March 18, 2004, Brewer signed with the New York Giants off waivers. Brewer was a special teams captain for the New York Giants and received two game balls that season despite the team only winning 6 games. Brewer was injured early in the 2005 NFL season and was placed on injured reserve by the Giants.

Once recovered from his surgery, Brewer signed with the Philadelphia Eagles on November 16 to replace the injured Sean Considine, Brewer played in six games with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2005 and led the team in special teams tackles per game. Brewer was credited with 19 total special teams tackles in 6 games and twice led the team with four special teams tackles in a game. Brewer was named a team captain despite his short stay in Philadelphia. Brewer signed a one-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals on April 28, 2006. However, he was placed on injured reserve on September 2, after his sixth surgery in 3 seasons. Brewer retired in 2007, days before he started his first job in the capital markets sector.

Business career
Brewer started his first company, Jack Brewer Enterprises in 2001 while a Sports Management Major at the University of Minnesota. The company produced and managed events around Minneapolis. In 2004, Brewer’s second year in the NFL, he founded The Brewer Group Inc., a private holding company which oversees a portfolio of assets, including those acquired from Jack Brewer Enterprises. From 2004 - 2007 the company's assets included a barbershop, a clothing store, a men’s clothing line, an event management company, a real estate company as well as a mortgage originator. Brewer’s mortgage originator went on to close over $100 million in mortgages, including making an acquisition of Optimum Mortgage Services, one of the largest originators in the Midwest prior to the mortgage crisis. In 2007, after leaving NFL, Brewer divested the majority of The Brewer Groups assets in order to become a wealth manager at the global private client group of Merrill Lynch in New York City. Brewer was ranked in the top 1 percentile of his class at Merrill, where he was able to help his clients avoid portfolio losses during the financial crisis of 2008-2009.

In 2010, Brewer transitioned away from Merrill Lynch in order to focus on building The Brewer Groups portfolio. The portfolio has included wholly owned subsidiaries such as a registered investment advisory firm called Brewer Capital (2010-2017), a global sports management and lending firm named Brewer Sports International (2010-2018), a production and media company called Brewer Media (2018–present), as well as private minority investments in a broad range of sectors. The Brewer Group and its subsidiaries managed over $60 million in AUM and facilitated over $30 million sports loans from 2010-2017.

In 2018, Brewer was named a Professor at Fordham Gabelli School of Business, where he serves as Director of the Athlete and Artist Programs. Professor Brewer has designed a curriculum which he currently teaches to athletes as well as incarcerated individuals who are making the transition from prison to society. Today, The Brewer Group, Inc.‘s portfolio of assets cover education, technology, healthcare, agriculture and media.

Political advocacy
In 2007, Brewer founded the NFL Players for Obama, where he led the coalition to advocate and fundraise for Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Run. This included personally furnishing the Obama Campaign headquarters in Minnesota. In 2010, Brewer was named Chairman of the Athletes and Artist Committee of the Millennium Development Goals Awards at the United Nations, where he served until 2013. From 2011 - 2013, Brewer served as Chairman of Peace and Sport USA, the United States expansion of Prince Albert of Monaco’s sports organization. Brewer went on to be nominated as Ambassador to the United Federation for Peace and Development at the United Nations from 2014- 2018. Brewer served as the National Spokesman for the Police Athletics Leagues from 2017-2019, leading national events to bring law enforcement and communities closer together.

In 2020, Brewer served as the Co-Chair for the Black Voices, Trump Victory Finance Committee and he delivered a speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention. Brewer frequently appeared on Fox News in support of conservative policies on criminal justice reform, opportunity zones, black unemployment and his efforts to pass school choice. Brewer was featured on several Trump for President National campaign ads and was an important voice in helping President Donald Trump to receive the highest minority voter turnout of any Republican since 1972.

In 2020, Brewer was given a four year appointment by the White House to serve as its nominee on the Congressional Committee for the Social Status of Black Men and Boys. Brewer was instrumental in helping music artist Lil Wayne and Kodak Black receive their pardons from President Trump. In 2021, Brewer was named Chair of Opportunity Now Center at the America First Policy Institute.

Media
In 2009, Brewer became a regular contributor on CNBC, covering sports, entertainment and capital markets. In 2014, Brewer began appearing on Fox Business’ Mornings with Maria, covering politics, sports and the global capital markets. Since 2016, Brewer has regularly appeared on Fox & Friends, Fox News @Night, Your World with Cavuto, Making Money with Charles Payne, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingram, Outnumbered and Varney and Co. Jack Brewer’s op-Ed’s and research has been nationally published over 75 times in publications including The National Business Journals, UN Chronicle, Fox News, Fox Business, News Max,Yahoo Finance and Town Hall.

Brewer is an active Executive Producer, focusing on producing content that supports social good. His past productions include a full feature documentary on the history of Haiti Calle “Resilient Hearts” (2014), the first ever United Nations Art Exhibit on Food Security (2016), multiple short documentaries on the extreme poor in Africa and Haiti, a Spanish comedy called Ruta Viva (2018), which sold to HBO, The Jack Brewer Show on SiriusXM channel 131 and his latest full feature documentary called “He will turn the Hearts of the Fathers” (est. 2022).

Humanitarian
Brewer founded the Jack Brewer Foundation in 2006. The Jack Brewer Foundation currently supports programs in Africa, the Caribbean, Central America, India and the United States.

Awards & honors
Brewer has received numerous honors, distinctions and awards including:


 * Chairman, America First Policy Institute Center for Opportunity Now (2021)
 * White House Presidential Appointment to the Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys (2020)
 * Board Member, Federal Enforcement Homeland Security Foundation (2020)
 * Co-Chair, Black Voices Trump Victory Fund (2020)
 * Community Award, Broward County Schools (2019)
 * Chapo Ba Award, Fonkoze (2019)
 * Named Professor, Fordham Gabelli School of Business (2019)
 * Keys to the City, Minneapolis Minnesota (2018)
 * Named Spokesman, National Police Athletics League (2017)
 * Founded American Heroes Program (2016)
 * Humanitarian Award, Leigh Steinberg DeNicola Super Bowl (2016)
 * Leadership Award, University of Miami Business School (2016)
 * Named an official “Friend of Tourism in Guatemala” by the Director of the Guatemalan Tourism Institute (INGUAT) (2016)
 * Named Ambassador for Peace & Sport for the US Federation for Middle East Peace (USFMEP) at the United Nations (2014)
 * Recipient of Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal's 40 Under 40 Award (2014)
 * Black Ivy Alumni League Pinnacle Award (2013)
 * Named to the University of Minnesota College of Education & Human Dynamics 2013 'Rising Alumni' (2013)
 * Recipient of National Recognition Award from President Joyce Banda of Malawi (2013)
 * Chair Board of Advisors of the Montessori Model United Nations (MMUN) (2012)
 * Chairman of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Awards Athletes and Artists Committee (2012)
 * New York State Senate Proclamation (2012)
 * New York State Assembly Citation (2012)
 * Friends for Good Health Goodwill Global Ambassador Award (2012)
 * Chairman of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Awards Athletes and Artists Committee (2012)
 * Citation from Nassau County, Office of the Executive (2012)
 * Office of the Town Board, Town of Oyster Bay Citation (2012)
 * Named Senior Advisor to President H.E. Dr. Joyce Banda, of the Republic of Malawi (2012)
 * Keynote speaker at the Opening Ceremonies of the Montessori Model United Nations held at the UN General Assembly (2012)
 * UN Foundation “Girl Up” Campaign Executive Committee Member (2011)
 * Inaugural delegation of NFL Players and NFL Official Super Bowl in China (2011)
 * Keynote at SportBusiness Sport and Social Responsibility Summit (2011)
 * Recognized and participated on the Sports & Social Impact panel of the Ivy Sports Symposium (2011)
 * Chairman of the Board of Peace and Sport USA (2010-2012)
 * Advisory Board Member of the African Development Corporation (2010)
 * Keynote at 2010 Peace and Sport International Forum in Monaco (2010)
 * Upliftment Jamaica Humanitarian Award (2010)
 * Peace and Sport Champion for Peace (2010)
 * Creation of the One Team 4 Haiti Relief Fund (2010)
 * Policy Forum and Reception for United States Chiefs of Mission to the Western Hemisphere on behalf of JBF Worldwide (2009-2012)
 * Rang the Closing Bell® at the New York Stock Exchange (2009)
 * Congressional Certificate of Appreciation Award (2009)
 * Founded NFL Players for Obama (2008)
 * Founded The Jack Brewer Foundation (2006)
 * Philadelphia Eagles Team Captain (2006)
 * NY Giants Team Captain (2005)
 * Rang the Opening Bell at NASDAQ (2004)
 * NFL Pro Bowl Finalist (2004)
 * Minnesota Vikings Team Captain (2003)
 * Received University of Minnesota M. Ed Sports Management (2002)
 * All Big Ten Defense (2002)
 * Ray Giel Award (2001)
 * Carl Eller Award (2001)
 * Received University of Minnesota BA Education (Sports Management) (2001)
 * Academic All Big Ten (1999-2001)
 * NCAA Football Freshman All-American Finalist (1998)
 * NCAA Disney World Classic Champion and Record Holder (Triple Jump) (1998)
 * Texas Relays Champion and Record Holder (Triple Jump) (1997)
 * TX State Record Holder (Triple Jump) (1997)
 * TX All State Wide Receiver & Defensive Back (1996)