Meet the NFL linebacker turning his love of Magic: The Gathering into a business

Cassius Marsh is hoping to continue his NFL career while opening a new card shop.

Looking at Cassius Marsh, you might not immediately guess that he’s a self-described “big-time nerd,” one who’s turning his deep love of a fantasy card game into a business in California.

The free-agent NFL linebacker who spent 2020 with three teams — the Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers — is also a die-hard collector and player of Magic: The Gathering, the card game from Wizards of the Coast that took the world by storm in the late 1990s and has exploded in popularity in the past decade or so. Not only can you play a game in which you use your creatures, spells and such to defeat your opponent, but the rare cards themselves are selling for a lot of money.

This week, his new card and collectables shop — Cash Cards Unlimited — in Westlake Village will open. And as he told For The Win in a recent interview, he’s hoping to not only make money on his passion but to also inspire others to be who they are.

Here’s what he told us. (this interview has been edited and condensed.)

How did you get into Magic in the first place?

I’ve always been into trading card games. I was huge into Pokemon. I grew up relatively poor, so whatever I could get, I just loved so much. So Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh is how I started it off. I wandered into a trading card shop called A Hidden Fortress in Simi Valley where I grew up. I asked if they had any Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh and was told, “We don’t sell those, but we sell Magic: The Gathering. There are two guys over there at the table playing.”

I watched those guys play the entire time, and I ran to beg my mom for as much money as I could get. I think she gave me $5. They had common cards for a quarter, uncommons for 50 cents and rare for $1. I bought 11 cards and that sparked my love for Magic. It took over my trading card obsession.

As someone who played Magic a lot around 1995, I totally get it, but for you, what is it about the game that draws you to it?

First and foremost, the art on the cards is unbelievable. It’s so awesome and mesmerizing. And it’s fantasy, there are so many different types of creatures and abilities and depth to the game. The competition behind it was a big thing for me. As an athlete, I thrive in that atmosphere. I think early on it was rough because I wasn’t winning many games and I had to learn to accept defeat. It taught me patience and humility.

When I left for college [at UCLA], I put it to the side for a while. I didn’t think anybody would be playing and I didn’t think I’d have any time for it.

Were you worried you’d be an outcast if you were the football player who was into Magic?

I was a little bit closeted when it came to the nerd stuff. My friends knew I loved Anime and I had no shame when it came to that. But I didn’t think anybody would care to join or care in general. I probably felt like I would be judged in some way for sure. There were so many other things to do at college. I had to take my football career more seriously, there were social events … I wanted to prioritize my college experience. But the first month I was there, I stumbled on a bunch of people playing in the dorms. I was bummed I gave away what little collection I had.

I know this is a stretch, but is there any connection at all between football and Magic?

You could draw a comparison to deck building and watching film. You build a deck, you try it out, you play it against other decks, and you get your final product. When you start a week of practice, you watch film on your day off, you study how they played the week before, you study tendencies, you watch their play action, you start to develop game plan, and by the time you get to game day, you have a complete plan for how you want to attack the team. I think from a studying standpoint, it did help. It gave me the ability to sit down and organize my thoughts.

When you did pick Magic back up again, did you feel like you got back something you were missing deeply?

I did. I knew I needed a hobby [after I got drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in 2014]. I was driving down Melrose with my girlfriend at the time and we rolled past a trading card shop. I went inside, and as soon as I saw the cards, I was getting back into it. I found a card shop where I was comfortable. No one really knew, I wasn’t telling people about it.

‘Nerd for sure’ Seahawks DE begs robbers to return stolen $20K ‘Magic: The Gathering’ collection

In 2016, I got my cards stolen. My girlfriend took my SUV to the club with her friends. Everybody’s cars got hit that night and someone stole my two backpacks, one had my decks in it. It was $20,000 worth of cards at the time – now, more like $40,000 worth. I did the tweet and the story blew up. Wizards of the Coast [the Washington-based creator of MTG] came to the facility and gave me a bunch of booster boxes and we developed a relationship. It was kind of a blessing in disguise. My girlfriend, now fiancée, likes to take credit for that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfb0v0eAXGU

One of my goals with this shop and in general is to be the poster boy for Magic: The Gathering and show kids how cool this game is and show them it’s dope, nothing to be ashamed of or hide from your friends. I’ve had parents and kids reach out to me and thank me, which is just crazy. I’m just being myself.

That’s something I wondered about – in NFL locker rooms, is the reaction, “What’s the deal with Cassius?”

Some guys are interested. I would say I’m not the typical guy or athlete in general, my appearance can fool a lot of people. There’s a lot to me. I’m an entrepreneur, I’m a big-time nerd, I love the game of football. I look a little bit intimidating, people have told me. Once they get to know me and see my Instagram, they’re curious.

I’ve had guys ask about it. I gave Joe Staley a booster box when I was with the 49ers, I gave Taven Bryan some stuff, my guy Doug Baldwin, we’ve played some games together. There’s been some curiosity in the locker room.

You never felt like the weirdo in the room? Or did you feel your football did all the talking you needed to do?

I think if I ended up being an [expletive] player or if I wasn’t performing while posting about Magic, I think guys in the locker room might not like that. I work hard, I’m a good teammate and locker room guy, so I think they grew to respect that I was doing what I loved, regardless of what people thought. A lot of people respected it and the business behind it.

Tell me about the shop. Is this the plan going forward or are you still going to play this season?

I’ll be playing this season, I’m looking to re-sign with the Steelers and continue my football career. I want to play for as long as it makes sense. This project, it’s a business for sure. I had always planned to do this, it came to fruition a little sooner than expected because of what the market is doing right now and opportunity coming my way. It’s something I’m setting up for when I’m done playing.

https://youtu.be/e2ocoIZSIyY