Football

Titans veteran long snapper Matt Overton finding joy in real estate venture

By Cole Claybourn Feb 25, 2021
Tennessee Titans long snapper Matt Overton (AP Photo/Brett Carlsen)

There were a few weeks last season where Matt Overton was, as he described it, “really, really busy.”

That’s to be expected of an NFL player. But Overton, a veteran long snapper who spent this past season with the Tennessee Titans, was especially busy.

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All while playing games on Sundays and going through the typical practice week, he was closing out some pending transactions for houses he was selling in the Indianapolis area, where he spent the first five years of his NFL career with the Colts.

“It was pretty stressful, but it all worked out,” he recently told Sports Spectrum.

Since October 2019, he’s been pursuing a side career in real estate. It’s one that will become his full-time focus once he’s done playing. If that time comes sooner rather than later, he said he’s at peace with that.

When he was with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2019, Overton started taking courses to get licensed as a real estate agent. He was released by the Jaguars in September 2019 and went back to Indianapolis to finish up those courses. He eventually got licensed in Indiana and spent the remainder of that season and 2020 working for FC Tucker as a real estate agent.

Overton said it was a “blessing from the Lord” that he got released by the Jaguars when he did. His testing expiration date was quickly approaching.

“I had about six weeks to study back up and pass those exams, which I did,” he said. “Being released from Jacksonville was a bummer, but I think God had a plan for me to go home and, at the time, be with my fiancée and finish my license for real estate.”

He signed with the Titans in October 2020 and played the whole season while working the real estate market in Indianapolis. On Feb. 3, he tweeted that he passed the Tennessee real estate exam, allowing him to work in both markets.

He and his wife, Breanna, now call Nashville home, and as they prepare to welcome their first child in late March, Overton isn’t feeling compelled to move to a new city to play.

At 35, he’s played eight seasons in the NFL. The competitive drive still has him coming back for more, and he’s hopeful he’ll play next season. But he’s at the point where traveling to play far away is less appealing.

He got a taste last season of what it was like to try and do business while living out of town, but he credited his real estate team for helping him make that smooth transition. With a child on the way, he’s content to call it quits if something doesn’t pan out with the Titans.

“It’s crazy how God had His hand in that, but my team knew if I needed to go sign with a team or go play, they would kind of take over the reigns and help me in that regard, so they did,” Overton said. “But I was still involved in helping my clients sell their house or buy a house, and walking them through a closing date. It definitely posed a challenge.

“If I were to kind of take a step back and look at what that looks like with football in the mix, I think my heart’s really at peace with not playing if it isn’t here.”

Part of what drew Overton to real estate was that he can still get that competitive adrenaline he gets from football, and he’s able to still be part of a team. He also enjoys being able to help people.

Last season with the Titans, when coaches and teammates found out he was licensed, they began peppering him with questions about the market, purchasing a home, negotiating, and all sorts of other things related to his new venture.

“I would be thrilled to help some teammates of mine, or some coaches, find a place, whether that’s here in Nashville or back in Indy,” he said.

That’s good value for a team, he said, and it’s good marketing for him.

He also enjoys being in somewhat of a mentor role in the locker room. Real estate can be a good career for athletes, whether their playing careers work out or not, he said. And he wants to help anyone interested get started.

“Football opens up a lot of doors, and this can be a career that sets you up in a good way,” he said. “It’s fun. I enjoy real estate because it’s a business and you’re helping people with some really big decisions that they have.”

Throughout it all, Overton’s faith in Christ has guided him through his decision making. He remembered from early on in his career with the Colts that owner Jim Irsay would preach “faith, family, football” to the organization.

For a while, though, things didn’t always align that way for Overton.

“There was a season where God had to reveal Himself to me and be like, ‘Hey, you need to lean on Me,’” Overton said. “Since then, it just really opened my eyes that regardless of what I do, I have to keep my faith first.

“God has revealed in me that playing is important, but what’s more important is being a disciple on that team, wherever I’m at, and being a shining light in the locker room, where a lot of guys need it.”

Overton said, early on in his career, he was scared of what life looked like beyond football, and unsure what his passion was going to be. He knew he craved competition and having something he can put his whole heart into.

After spending time remodeling houses when he was younger, he developed an interest in the housing market. That morphed into this desire to pursue real estate.

“It was just kind of like God pulling the veil from my face, like, ‘Hey, here’s an opportunity. Here’s a career beyond football that can still give you joy,’” he said. “This past season, my heart was still desiring to play football and be part of a team. But it was like I experienced this season from a different perspective, almost as if it wasn’t as much pressure because I knew that life after football — I had a little taste of it.

“If football lasts another day or another three or four years, it’s not for me to decide. I know that after football, there are great opportunities.”

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