Austin Ekeler has a new idea. He always has a new idea. He isn’t willing to unveil it just now, the only hint being a resource to amplify the off-field ventures of his NFL peers. Watch this space.
“I don’t want to give it away, because I think it’s amazing,” Ekeler tells Sky Sports.
The Austin Ekeler experience is a ceaseless entrepreneurial itch, one that persists to spread and evolve no matter how rigorous the latest scratch. He is the modern celebrity-meets-businessman athlete whose career spans from penetrating B gaps and making jump cuts as the starting Los Angeles Chargers running back to turning his hand to real estate, technological innovation, Foundation leader, podcast host, restaurant owner and live streamer.
As Ekeler has long-maintained, he never thought this small-town farm boy would make it here. Here being the NFL, that is.
Might as well make the most of it, right?
“I think my ultimate drive is really the idea that my job is to build my capabilities, it’s not to play football, it’s not to build my app, my job as a human for myself is to continue to expand,” Ekeler adds. “And I do these other things by playing football.
“It’s an opportunity for me to practise expanding on my capabilities and continue to put myself where I can continue to grow. And so that’s why I do so many different things because that’s what I see is fulfilling for myself.”
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Ekeler says this is his biggest season yet in the NFL
The Ekpire continues to swell in both imagination and exploration. There is a mirrored consistency at which he attacks life on and off the field, from the no-quit ears-pinned-back running style to the unrelenting will to maximise every progressive crevice that may appear as a branch to his sporting stardom.
He had grown up building miles of barbed wire fences and tending to horses and chickens in the freezing cold while working on his stepfather’s ranch in Briggsdale, Colorado. He had been a white-water raft guide along Gunnison River in the rocky mountains of Colorado, earning $35 for each trip. He had clawed his way towards peeking recognition within small school Western Colorado, landed a one-shot audition with the Chargers as an undrafted free agent before clutching at a starring role with no sign of release. A breathless approach is second nature.
Among his newest enterprises is part ownership of a Vietnamese restaurant in Las Vegas. Super Bowl LVIII happens to be in Las Vegas. See where we are going with this?
There is a ready-made home for festivities awaiting the Chargers. Should they make it down the winding pot-holed path to get there, that is.
“That would definitely be a great marketing tool for me,” laughs Ekeler. “That’s another reason that we got to get to the Super Bowl this year, that marketing is unbeatable!
“We do things like Phở, which is like a broth and there’s noodles and some type of protein in there. We have lobster, we have ribeye, we have vegetable and chicken noodle bowls. We’re going to continue to take it to the moon and start a couple more. It’s continuing to expand what we’re doing, to max out our team, I need my team to be like, ‘Okay, awesome. We’re doing too much’, and then that’s when I’m like ‘Let’s bring in some help’.”
Build, collaborate, learn, grow. Rinse and repeat. The Ekeler business model.
In the process he never strays from the fan interaction that has always been close to his heart, running weekly jersey giveaways while leading charity initiatives and hosting live chats and gaming sessions designed to continue bridging the gap between athlete and supporter. The results have been… interesting.
“One engagement that has stuck out and probably will not ever be topped, I had a couple who had a new-born child and they named their child Ekeler,” he laughs. “I actually met Ekeler and was able to hold him and so now I follow that family and that was a pretty impactful moment for me, somebody was inspired so much by what I’ve been doing in my journey and my story that they actually named their first child after me.
“I was out in a football camp actually and they came out to meet me with their other son that was participating. Here’s the crazy thing. So our quarterback’s last name is obviously Herbert. Their last name is Herber, so it’s Ekeler Herber. So close to being just the ultimate Charger!”
‘Remember the name’, you might say. Then again, how could you forget it?
Ekeler won’t, nor will he forget his roots. No running back has scored more touchdowns than Ekeler’s 39 or posted more receiving yards than his 1,451 since 2021, while only Josh Jacobs and Derrick Henry have amassed more scrimmage yards in that period. The influence of those around whom he grew up has never faded along the road to becoming one of the NFL’s most potent all-purpose backs.
Watch the dramatic final minutes of the Chargers’ win over the Raiders
“In my small town of around 4,000 people I had a lot of unconditional support, and we used to have so many people come to our football games, basketball games, just for this tiny farm town out in Colorado,” he explains.
“I thought that was so special. And then when I went to college it was in another tiny town, but still had a lot of great support. When you’re in that environment you go out to lunch and dinner with the community after the game, you all interact together.
“Being around that I just saw so much support, then once I was brought into the NFL and went to Los Angeles that same small town kid stayed within me and still lives with me today. I really appreciate all the fans that come out and so that’s where my fan appreciation started.”
His on-field success also received heightened appreciation this offseason when Ekeler was named 21st on the NFL’s top 100 list, as voted for by the players.
“When you get recognition from other players around the league, then it definitely holds some weight and holds value,” said Ekeler. “Being able to be recognised as a result of all the work we put in is something that is special and something that I’ll look back on in my career one day and be like ‘this is where I was’.
“Maybe we can try to crack the top 10 or something, something crazy. But that was pretty awesome, a pretty incredible moment for my career.”
Ekeler has been hindered by injury in the early weeks of the season, but still stands to play a defining role under new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. The Chargers offense ranked third-bottom in rushing last year while Ekeler put up 1,637 yards and and an NFL-high 18 touchdowns from scrimmage.
“The Austin Ekeler experience on the field, you’re going to get what our team needs,” he explained. “Last year, I had to catch a bunch of balls. We had injuries this year and our running game suffered, for whatever reason, so we’ve got to get back on track. And that’s a direct reflection of me.
“That’s where I’m going to be really focusing, obviously going to continue to catch the ball and stay consistent and make plays, but do everything that I can in my power to get this running game back on track and get us off the bottom of the league. Whenever I have the ball in my hands, let’s be efficient, let’s be that Jitterbug. I am a patient, I explode, I make people miss.
“Hopefully I’m somebody that when you watch me you’re like ‘I can’t wait for Ekeler to get the ball’. I think I have a unique movement pattern that gets people excited to watch me, so hopefully more of that.”
Ekeler has assumed a leading voice on behalf of running backs across the league this year amid debate over the financial reward, or lack of it, for one of football’s most gruelling positions. The 28-year-old is set to become a free agent at the end of the season having requested permission to explore trade options earlier this year before agreeing to a revised contract with the Chargers including added incentives.
Highlights of the Dallas Cowboys against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week Six of the NFL season
“This has to be the biggest season for me,” said Ekeler. “Because it’s the only season I have right now. But it also leads to so much more going down the road. I’m at the end of my contract and so there’s just more that rides on this season.
“Not to say I wasn’t motivated previously, but I just have more reasons to be motivated now. And so when you can find more reasons to be motivated, add them on, keep adding on as many as you possibly can. And not even just for football, but all these other things that I’m doing to also rely on my position in this league.
“Because of marketing, because of capital connections, fantasy football, all of these different factors, those are motivation for me. The fact that this is my final year of my contract, here’s just another one of those bullet points you can put in there and add to that list. This has to be my biggest year that I’ve ever had. That’s awesome.
It is a similarly monumental year for the Chargers and their head coach Brandon Staley, whose side blew a 27-point lead to lose to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the playoffs last season.
Injury to Mike Williams has served as a crushing blow, Ekeler’s early setbacks have been unfortunate, the J.C. Jackson deal did not work out as hoped and there continues to be question marks over one of the most expensively-assembled yet underperforming defenses in the league. But with Justin Herbert at the helm and a healthy Ekeler, Keenan Allen, Rashawn Slater, Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack around him as core components, there will always be soaring expectations for a team capable of hanging with the best in the league.
Ekeler runs in his first touchdown of the season
“You have a team that has a bunch of playmakers, we’ve been a little inconsistent in the past, for whatever reason, but even with our inconsistencies, we were still able to make the playoffs,” says Ekeler.
“We’ve added a couple more playmakers to the roster. Now we have more guys that you can lean on and not just the guys that we had last year.
“This is a team that even when we were inconsistent, we were still good. That’s what we’re looking for in the NFL, how can we be consistent? If we can find that and find even just a little bit more than we did last year, we’re gonna go even further. I’m pretty psyched about that.”
What next in the Eksperience?
“I continue to put myself in situations where I have responsibilities that I might not know everything, but I’m going to be able to go out and figure it out and learn and continue to build something,” he says. “I think that makes me a better football player, because I’m always continuing to try to expand on what I’m doing.”
Watch the Los Angeles Chargers face the Kansas City Chiefs live on Sky Sports NFL from 9.25pm on Sunday.
2023-10-19 05:02:50
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