Brock Purdy helped with harvest on an Iowa operation
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Just because the San Francisco 49ers are on a bye week doesn’t mean its players aren’t putting in work.
Take the team’s quarterback, Brock Purdy, for example.
Coming off a 31-17 loss at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals, Purdy used the off week to visit his fiancee’s family farm in Iowa and help with harvest.
“Wrapping up harvest ’23,” reads an Instagram post from Purdy’s fiancée, Jenna Brandt.
A video accompanies the post, showing farm equipment at work in a corn field. The video pans to Purdy sitting in the combine’s operator seat wearing a white 49ers hat.
Brock Purdy operating a combine. (Jenna Brandt Instagram)
The video has since been shared across social media with members of the ag community weighing in.
“Life long 49er fan, here, and Brock Purdy absolutely makes you proud!” Kyle Zarate, a farmer from Adairville, Ky., said on X.
Purdy isn’t the only pro football player to engage in ag activities during their bye week.
AJ Dillon, a running back for the Green Bay Packers, did so in a virtual way.
During his team’s bye week, Dillon took to his Twitch account for a gaming session that included Farming Simulator.
During the stream, Dillon purchased a John Deere 7R 270 tractor with twin Michelin wheels for his virtual farm. That came at a cost of $263,500.
After buying the tractor, Dillon’s playing partner suggested he buy a cultivator. But with only $71,208 left, and with him still needing a planter, Dillon’s gaming partner suggested he take out a loan.
In another part of the stream, Dillon is using a John Deere combine to harvest wheat and hoping for good commodity prices.
Other NFL players have farming connections too.
Jordy Nelson, a former wide receiver with the Green Bay Packers, now helps out on his family’s farm in Riley, Kan. He operates equipment and helps manage the 1,000-head cattle herd.
“Working cattle is my favorite farm duty,” he told ESPN.
And Jason Brown, a former lineman with the St. Louis Rams, walked away from football in 2012 to start a career in agriculture.
He started First Fruits Farm in Louisburg, N.C., where he grows produce that he donates to people in need.
The farm has provided more than 1.6 million servings of fresh produce since 2014.