Where Is DeShone Kizer Now? The Former NFL Quarterback's Pivot to One of None CEO

DeShone Kizer’s journey represents one of the most unconventional career transitions in sports and technology. The former NFL quarterback, once drafted in the second round by the Cleveland Browns in 2017 alongside Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, is no longer pursuing football. Instead, at 26 years old, Kizer now serves as CEO of One of None, a blockchain-based startup that merges the digital world of NFTs with physical collectibles—a vision he has been building toward for years.

His current trajectory might seem surprising to those who watched him lead Notre Dame to a 10-2 season, or who saw him become one of the youngest starting quarterbacks in NFL history. Yet for Kizer, the path from the football field to the crypto and blockchain space feels inevitable when examining the full arc of his career and interests.

From Notre Dame Star to NFL Draft

Kizer’s entrepreneurial mindset emerged long before his NFL career took shape. During his time at Notre Dame, where he played quarterback and studied finance, Kizer spent late nights brainstorming business ideas with his roommate Pat Darché. Rather than focusing solely on football, Kizer researched Fortune 500 companies and identified which CEOs had attended Notre Dame, then cold-emailed them for business advice. His networking effort yielded surprising results—approximately 20% of those emails led to meaningful connections, including an internship with GE Capital that accommodated his football schedule.

When Notre Dame’s starting quarterback Malik Zaire suffered a broken ankle in the second game of Kizer’s sophomore year, Kizer’s opportunity arrived. In a dramatic late-game moment against Navy, with 18 seconds remaining and Notre Dame trailing by one, Kizer threw a touchdown pass to future NFL receiver Will Fuller to secure the victory. This moment launched him into the national spotlight. That season, the Irish reached #4 in the national rankings and secured a 10-2 record.

The NFL took notice. In the 2017 draft—a class that included Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, and Mitchell Trubisky—Kizer was selected in the second round by the Cleveland Browns. “Unbelievable draft pick,” Kizer reflects now, acknowledging how these historic quarterbacks reshaped the NFL landscape.

The Brutal Rookie Season and Team Rotation

Kizer’s entry into professional football proved challenging. The Browns had finished 1-15 the previous season, and despite typically benching rookie quarterbacks, Kizer’s strong preseason performance earned him the starting role. In his first NFL start against the Baltimore Ravens, he led the Browns to a 7-7 tie, sparking hope among fans that the franchise might finally turn a corner. However, the losing streak continued. The Browns ultimately finished 0-16—one of the worst seasons in NFL history—a failure that cannot be attributed solely to Kizer, given the team’s league-wide struggles.

Following this turbulent season, Kizer was traded to the Green Bay Packers to back up future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers. Watching one of the greatest quarterback minds work taught Kizer valuable lessons. “He throws the ball better than anyone I’ve ever seen in my life, but on top of that, he maintains his intellectual integrity,” Kizer observed, noting Rodgers’ ability to discuss business, history, and Jeopardy before taking the field. This observation shaped Kizer’s worldview—he realized he didn’t need to compartmentalize his identity as both an intellectual and an athlete.

The Collectors’ Marketplace Discovery

During his early years with NFL paychecks, Kizer began exploring the luxury and collectible market. He invested in high-end streetwear brands like Off-White and Fear of God, building relationships with artists and designers. A critical insight emerged: whenever limited-edition collectibles appreciated in value on secondary markets, the creators received zero revenue from the resale. A sneaker purchased for $200 might sell for $1,000 months later, but the artist earned nothing from that $800 profit. Kizer documented this observation in his notebooks as a future business opportunity.

As his time with various NFL teams continued—the Raiders, Las Vegas Raiders, and Tennessee Titans—Kizer remained a backup, allowing him mental space to contemplate entrepreneurship. However, as he noted, during the 2017 Browns season, he had to fully commit to football. “I dropped everything. I didn’t really talk to anyone. I didn’t really have any friends,” he recalls of that bunker period.

COVID-19: The Catalyst for One of None

The turning point arrived in spring 2020. After being cut by the Las Vegas Raiders, the NFL went into lockdown due to COVID-19. With no free agency movement or workouts available, Kizer had unexpected time on his hands. He reopened his business journal and reconnected with his college roommate Pat Darché to revive that old idea about creator resale royalties.

Their concept evolved into something more ambitious: a platform and marketplace that would connect creators and collectors through limited-edition items while ensuring creators captured secondary market value. The missing piece? Blockchain technology. Though initially skeptical of crypto, Kizer recognized that blockchain could solve the provenance tracking problem—maintaining a complete, unbroken record of an item’s ownership history from creation to present day.

In fall 2020, while serving as the Tennessee Titans’ “Quarantine Quarterback” (attending meetings via Zoom to maintain social distancing), Kizer used his remote flexibility to develop One of None with Darché and Darché’s older brother Mike, who led the technology and blockchain development. “The bunker session didn’t really have much football in it,” Kizer would later admit. “I just fell back in love with business.”

When the Titans cut him to sign Matt Barkley, Kizer faced a critical decision. At 25 years old, he was still part of an extraordinarily elite athletic group—fewer than 0.0000001% of people globally—and could continue collecting NFL paychecks. Multiple teams called with offers. He declined them all. “It’s over,” he announced. “The cleats are hung up.”

Building the Hybrid NFT Infrastructure

One of None’s innovation centers on the concept of “hybrid NFTs”—bridging physical goods and digital assets. The system works as follows: A physical item (a Kobe Bryant skateboard, luxury watch, or limited-edition T-shirt) receives an accompanying NFT. Using a vault system, collectors can either store the physical object securely or redeem it for personal use. When the physical item remains vaulted, the owner can freely trade the NFT. Once redeemed, the NFT becomes non-transferable, ensuring the digital and physical assets remain connected—maintaining perfect provenance.

Kizer tested this model through experimentation. He distributed 115 designer T-shirts valued at approximately $30 each and asked participants whether they preferred to take them home or store them in the vault. Expecting minimal interest in vaulting, Kizer was shocked to discover 40% chose the vault option, treating the items as financial assets rather than consumer goods. For skateboard decks, the vault preference rose to 60%. “This is real,” Kizer concluded. “People understand the concept of vaulting. They’re thinking of physical items the same way as NFTs—as assets.”

This validation occurred while Kizer was practicing with the Titans, but the data resonated more powerfully than any football training. It represented proof that the market existed.

Solving the Physical World’s Challenges

The transition from digital NFTs to physical collectibles introduced significant logistical complexity. One of None embedded RFID chips (radio-frequency identification) into physical objects, enabling these chips to interact with blockchain technology and vault sensors. This prevents fraud—a collector cannot swap an authentic item with a counterfeit while keeping the NFT. The infrastructure required partnerships with third-party storage facilities and drew upon existing security protocols from the high-end art storage industry.

Kizer embraced rather than avoided this complexity. “Imagine my athlete network I had in early 2021 when the NFT market was on fire,” he notes. They could have simply dropped digital NFTs and profited quickly. Instead, they invested two years building a genuinely functional system. “That’s why we’ve been building for two years. This isn’t some garage startup,” Kizer explains.

Current Projects: From Physical Artists to Arcade Games

Today, Kizer spends most mornings taking walks around golf courses—rising at 4:45 a.m. to clear his head while listening to venture capital podcasts. His days revolve around artist partnerships and creator collaborations. One of None is simultaneously bridging two worlds: bringing “legacy” (physical) artists into Web 3 by creating hybrid NFTs for their works, and helping purely digital artists create physical merchandise.

A partnership with Hoop Dream Studio demonstrates this approach. The studio creates art from basketball backboards—physically bulky but artistically compelling. One of None is developing hybrid NFTs for these backboards, embedding RFID chips, and storing them in their Virginia vault. Similarly, for Knights of Degen, a metaverse sports project, One of None brokered a collaboration with Ice Games to build a custom arcade game that exists both as physical equipment and as an NFT, redeemable or vault-stored.

These partnerships represent stress tests of the One of None model. If arcade game logistics can be solved, simpler items like watches and sneakers become straightforward. As Kizer muses, “If a pop-a-shot can sit in our vault in Virginia and change hands 10 times over six months without ever leaving the vault, why can’t you do that with a car?”

The Market Opportunity: 100 Million vs. 1 Million

The endgame explains Kizer’s focus on physical complexity. If approximately 1 million people engage with digital art and NFTs, roughly 100 million care about tangible goods like watches, sneakers, and cars. “I’m more interested in the 100 million than the 1 million,” Kizer states plainly. The ultimate vision involves partnerships with luxury heritage brands—Rolex, Porsche, Ferrari, Louis Vuitton, Dior. These companies have built empires through limited editions and exclusivity; blockchain-enabled hybrid NFTs could enhance their resale ecosystems and creator participation.

One of None unveiled its offerings at NFT.NYC in June 2022 as a “soft launch event,” marking the culmination of two years of focused development. During a staff meeting, Kizer delivered a message to his team of 12: “This has been two years of my life,” acknowledging the NFL career he essentially surrendered for this vision. The company survived the subsequent crypto market volatility and continues developing its infrastructure.

Where Is DeShone Kizer Now?

DeShone Kizer is not on an NFL roster. He doesn’t train with teammates or pursue additional professional football contracts, despite possessing the elite athletic capabilities that remain extraordinarily rare. Instead, he is building at One of None—a company attempting something unprecedented: making blockchain technology and NFT mechanics accessible and valuable within the world of physical luxury goods, collectibles, and art.

His current life reflects a radical reorientation of priorities. He wakes at 4:45 a.m., works methodically through business challenges, collaborates with artists and creators, and maintains relationships with venture capitalists and blockchain developers. He limits himself to minimal social activity and minimal alcohol consumption (only six times since 2020). His sole hobby is work—specifically, the work of bridging the physical and digital collectibles worlds.

For Kizer, this represents not a sacrifice but a calling. Football offered comfort, status, and income. One of None offers something he considers more valuable: a chance to build infrastructure that could reshape how millions of people interact with assets, provenance, and value creation itself.