About Mario Henry

Mario Henry, a native of New Jersey, was an African American Studies and Psychology major at Rutgers University (1994). After college, he played in the NFL with the New England Patriots (1994-1995) and Buffalo Bulls (1995-1996) and overseas with the Barcelona Dragons (1995) in Spain. Mario was recently inducted into his Athletic High School Hall of Fame (2022). Since his football career ended, Mario has been a motivational speaker all over the country giving mentorship to kids from elementary school to college in the form of financial and professional goal setting which he learned from overcoming the incredible odds of being a 4th string freshman football player to becoming an All-American within 4 years of high school. Mario also is an insurance broker and a credit specialist helping people to understand outside-the-box financial solutions.

Mario created the “Playbook4Life” program in 2000 which gives schools the experience of an assembly program that focuses on financial goal setting from the minds of former professional athletes. Mario feels these athlete speakers can relate to the student body as they navigate their worlds and the pressures of life and teach them how to prepare for the next step into adulthood. Mario also believes that by reaching these younger kids, their mindset can be shaped early, motivating them to educate themselves more on finance.

After Mario’s short career ended, he found himself broke. He was homeless living in his car for three days. He was determined to understand finances and many years later is known more for his financial services than being an athlete. Mario’s greatest accomplishment and goal in life is living over two decades working for himself. We want our youth to think deeper about life and what decisions must be made at a young age to capture the difficult journey of defining your goals and uncovering your mission.

We are in a unique time in our history since life expectancies are at an all-time high. We are outliving our ability to earn an income and it’s next to impossible to save enough money to retire. 

The average American will never be able to stop working. Unfortunately, Mario’s only sibling unexpectedly passed away in September 2022. After that experience, he decided to make sure he is sharing all the wisdom he has collected throughout his 26 years of being an entrepreneur and giving that experience back to the youth.