Jake Plummer, a.k.a. The Snake, a.k.a. Umbo co-founder, opens up about his career and his longer-term path to finding and regularly using Functional Mushrooms:
Football played the lead role in my life up until 2006, when I retired after fourteen years of college and pro football. I was a four year starter at ASU as a quarterback, and a ten year starter in the NFL. I was thrilled to finish third in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1996, along with nearly winning a national championship that season. The highlights of my NFL career was four playoff appearances — and one season that ended just one game shy of the Super Bowl.
There are so many highlights in my career that I’m proud of, but I’m most proud that I never stopped play so the training staff would have to come out to see if I was okay. I know my mom appreciated that she never had to sit there and hear, “The injured player on the field is Jake Plummer… While they see if he can move any of his limbs, we’ll take a short break for our sponsors.”
How was your mental and physical state when you retired from the NFL?
Mentally, I was taxed and tired. The game was stressful at times and demanded my full attention on the field and in the film study rooms. Add in the extraordinary hubris of off-field life and, mentally, I was done. I needed a mental break. I was also physically beat up. I was taking such powerful anti-inflammatories, just to get through the season with as little pain as possible. Ultimately, I decided to retire because of the weekly demand for perfection and the mounting pain my body had to deal with every day.
What brought you to plant medicine and functional mushrooms?
I’ve known about plants and holistic medicine thanks to my mother, who taught me at a young age how to be aware of what I was putting in my body, and how to use nature to treat my ailments. More recently, Del Jolly exposed me to foraging, functional mushrooms and plant medicines. It forever changed how I look at health and wellness.
My journey has been amazing! I feel the plants and mushrooms have opened up new pathways of thought, action, and feeling that allow me to approach life in a more peaceful and purposeful way. Embracing these amazing mechanisms of health has given me renewed vigor for life and a desire to share with others a better way to function daily. My journey continues to inspire me to learn more and make people think differently about health and wellness.
What have you been able to achieve that you’re most proud of?
Putting thoughts and ideas into motion and launching Umbo, fueled by the drive and desire to help people thrive, has been a very fulfilling thing to be involved with.
What’s in your daily stack?
I eat a Umbo all-natural energy bar nearly every day, to get my daily mushroom intake. They've got 2500mg of functional mushrooms in each bar! And they're yummy too.
I also take the Myco Rise capsules every morning when I wake up, and Myco Rest every night before I go to sleep. With the two of those together, I really feel like I'm functioning at my highest level, every single day.
