NFL players might seem like their lives are all about football, but surprisingly, some of them actually have passions off the field. Take nose tackle Al Woods, who spends his offseason as a cattleman on his family's farm, or defensive end Calais Campbell, who moonlights as a digital media mogul. And then there's retired NFL star Al "Bubba" Baker, who swapped out sacking quarterbacks for slinging BBQ after his football career. His claim to fame? Deboned ribs — as in BBQ ribs without the hassle of, well, bones. Bubba even took his BBQ dreams to "Shark Tank," hoping to scale his business and get his famous ribs into the mouths of the masses. Sadly, things didn't end quite as he had hoped.
"I played a little football in the NFL for 13 years. That was my job, [but] BBQ is my passion," he said on the show, having entered the tank hoping to secure $300,000 in exchange for 15% equity in his business. His deboned ribs, perfected over two decades, had all the sharks raving, with the ever-shady Kevin O'Leary and Daymond John throwing out offers. O'Leary proposed $300,000 for a 49% stake and promised to get a renowned meat processor to license Bubba's patent on the deboning process, while John countered with the same amount but only for 30% equity, believing in the product's potential.
Bubba took John's deal, and for a while, everything seemed to be smooth sailing — or at least it was on paper. But less than a decade later, things took a nosedive, and the once-successful BBQ venture ended in a full-on fallout between Bubba and John.
Bubba and Daymond had a falling out
Al "Bubba" Baker was doing pretty well before Shark Tank, raking in $154,000 in sales with his famous BBQ ribs. After Daymond John's investment, though, things appeared to be even better, with Bubba revealing in a follow-up episode that sales had hit $16 million. John even claimed it might be his "biggest deal ever." The ribs sold out online and on QVC, and at one point, there was even a Carl's Jr. deal worth $5.8 million on the table.
But behind the scenes, things were far messier. According to The Los Angeles Times, John's original $300,000 investment turned into just $100,000 for 35%. Worse, the Bakers got tangled with Nate Holzapfel, one of John's former associates, who apparently mishandled Bubba's e-commerce, leading to 14% of $250,000 in online orders being refunded. Holzapfel handed over only $8,000 of the promised $100,000 before being cut from the business. Even the Carl's Jr. deal was a bust. Bubba expected $193,000 but walked away with just $2,900 in profits, plus a $61,917 licensing fee. Their partnership with Rastelli Foods Group also crumbled, with Bubba claiming he was shut out of negotiations, handled instead by John's team.
In the end, that $16 million figure was far from reality. Bubba walked away with only $659,653. Making matters worse, his family was hit with a restraining order from John for alleged defamation, with a judge describing their actions as a "calculated, virulent attack," according to USA Today. And per John, he never once misled Bubba in business. "I have always upheld transparency and honesty throughout my journey as an entrepreneur," he said in a statement.
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