Dolphins Running Back Starts a New Season — in Banking

Ronnie Brown, the Miami Dolphins’s star running back, has kicked off a new game — banking.

The No. 2 overall selection in the 2005 draft has joined the board of directors of a start-up bank in southern Florida, Broward Bank of Commerce. And lest you think he’s just the celebrity spokesman, Brown apparently is attending monthly board meetings and chairing the bank’s marketing committee.

The Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel reports that the bank opened Jan. 12, three days after receiving approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. It started with roughly $12.5 million in capital and aims to serve small- and mid-size businesses.

Brown was one of 10 board members to put up a total of $3.13 million to fund the bank’s launch. He also gained 1,170 rushing and receiving yards this season.

On the surface, starting a bank now might seem like an odd move, but it is not. Broward Bank is fortunate to have a clean balance sheet and rapidly dwindling competition. It also has a marketing magnet on its board in Ronnie Brown. There’s nothing bigger in South Florida than the Dolphins. I can just hear the cheers now, “Go bank go!”