Prime Video’s hit documentary Cocaine Quarterback tells the unlikely story of how Owen Hanson, a participant on USC’s nationwide championship-winning soccer group, went on to turn into a convicted drug trafficker and cash launderer for the notorious Sinaloa cartel. However in essentially the most unlikely of plot twists, relatively than sit in his cell and blame the world for his predicament, Hanson as a substitute accomplished an MBA and have become referred to as the ice cream kingpin when an unintentional discovery led him to invent a deliciously wholesome dessert.
Now a free man, the previous elite athlete is disrupting a completely new market—the well being meals trade—and luckily, M&F has the “scoop” on Hansen’s game-changing entrepreneurial endeavor.
At 6’3”, Owen Hanson’s hopes of finding out on the College of Southern California appeared like an inconceivable dream for a child residing with a single father attempting to make ends meet. However that dream grew to become a actuality when Hanson landed a volleyball scholarship. Nonetheless, the competitors at USC was powerful and with threats of being reduce from the group, the younger upstart desperately looked for a bonus that wound up main him to Tijuana for his first steroid run.
As his physique obtained greater, Hanson caught the eye of coaches and was chosen for USC Trojans regardless of a whole lack of soccer expertise. Remarkably, he grew to become a walk-on tight finish and a part of the 2004 nationwide championship group that featured Heisman trophy winners Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush. However when his time in school soccer ended, these teammates went on to be drafted by the NFL, whereas Hanson discovered himself struggling to make his actual property enterprise work within the period of the credit score crunch. As a substitute, the person they known as the “O-Canine” would use his expertise as a small-time purchaser and vendor of medication to ascend the prison ranks.
Owen Hanson’s Escapades as ‘The Cocaine Quarterback’ Resulted in Important Time Behind Bars
Mark Whalberg’s Unrealistic Concepts manufacturing firm tells the surreal story of the “Cocaine Quarterback,” detailing how the previous soccer participant wound up in Australia, driving excessive with thousands and thousands of {dollars} earned through the Sinaloa cartel earlier than his operation imploded following a soured relationship with a murky man referred to as “Robin Hood 702.” In 2017, Hanson was sentenced to only over 21 years for his crimes however served round 9 years, having his sentenced decreased after cooperating with the authorities regarding a case towards Australian legal professional Michael Croke.
Whereas the documentary does present Hanson’s launch in 2024 and his need to stay a optimistic way of life, investing his personal time into speaking to younger folks about making the fitting selections in life, the movie doesn’t concentrate on Hanson’s regret for his actions, or go into nice element concerning the unbelievable plot twist that sees him working an ice cream enterprise from his jail cell. M&F wished to choose up, the place “Cocaine Quarterback” left of.
Owen Hanson Has Despatched Many Apologies Since His Incarceration
“Yeah, little question I’ve regret,” Hanson tells M&F. “I’m remorseful for getting all these folks concerned on this disaster, proper? I ended up getting 20 of my pals indicted, from my greatest buddy in school to my accountant. It’s all as a result of I lied, and I clearly fabricated a narrative, and gave them one thing that they believed was (that) they have been getting concerned in playing (however as a substitute I used to be) using them to assist launder cash for the cartel. I give it some thought daily, and I bear in mind sitting in that 6-by-8 jail cell, and simply writing each one in every of my co-defendants, apologizing for the mess I’ve gotten them into. And, clearly, I can’t take again the errors I made, however I can hopefully give them an apology, and I’ve apologized to each one in every of them, and 95% of them have accepted my apology and perceive the place I used to be coming from, as a result of they know the kind of particular person I’m. I by no means meant to get them in hassle. They simply know that I’m this child that has this ambition.”
Within the closing segments of Cocaine Quarterback, Hanson is proven making ice cream in a mop bucket from his jail cell, lastly utilizing his lofty ambition to achieve success in a professional manner, and turning an enormous revenue by promoting a authorized product to his inmates. What the movie doesn’t uncover is how this unbelievable plot twist got here to be.
How California Ice Protein Originated from Hanson’s Jail Cell
Each morning whereas in jail, Hanson would stand up at 5 a.m. and put together his meals together with a protein shake that he’d place in a mop bucket filled with ice. “You’re saying, why the mop bucket?” says the entrepreneur, predicting the apparent query. “Properly, in jail, we don’t have refrigeration. So, what will we do? We throw a bunch of ice in a mop bucket.”
In the future, nonetheless, Hanson’s routine was disrupted when the jail ice machine was damaged. As a substitute, he put salt on the remaining ice, solely to come back again and discover the entire bucket frozen. “I begin to eat it with a spoon, I’m like, holy s**t,” recollects Hanson. “This can be a protein ice cream! I stated, I feel we’re onto one thing!”
With ice cream beforehand unavailable to the inmates of the Federal Correctional Establishment of Englewood, Colorado, Hanson examined his new product on his exercise buddies, and earlier than lengthy he was promoting the wholesome deal with in peanut butter jars for $15 every. “Bear in mind, it value me $1.50 to make,” says Hanson. “I stated, in the event that they purchase it for $15, I’m making the identical charge of return as I used to be making on my product in Australia.”
The sensible salesman quickly went from promoting 7 models per day to 14, after which 21. “By Tremendous Bowl Sunday, I had pre-orders for 50 ice lotions,” recollects Hanson, explaining that as his operation expanded, he started using his inmates to assist preserve the manufacturing line shifting. It wasn’t all clean crusing nonetheless, whereas some jail workers have been encouraging of his healthful product and acute enterprise acumen, others have been much less impressed. “Some guards need to be assholes,” shared Hanson. “And so they’ll are available in there, like, ‘Oh, you’re not imagined to promote ice cream.’ So, you already know what they do? They take my mop bucket, and so they flip it the wrong way up, and so they take my ice cream, and so they throw it on the ground. However more often than not, the folks already know my story. They know I’m not any individual that’s disrespectful. I deal with the guards similar to I deal with anyone in life, like a human being. It doesn’t matter that they’ve a badge, it doesn’t hassle me. And should you present that sort of respect in jail, they’re often going to provide it again to you.”
Owen Hanson: Cocaine Quarterback Turned an Ice Protein Kingpin
Lauded by his jail friends because the ice cream kingpin, Hanson’s first model behind bars was tentatively titled the “Kingpin Creamery,” however when he was comfortable to get his early launch, life outdoors of jail meant that Hanson not had a product or a goal to inspire him. Fortuitously, he noticed that even the skin world didn’t have a excessive main protein ice cream. Hanson seen that many of the related merchandise on the market solely supplied round 5g of protein. “So, I used to be like, okay… I’m gonna work out a approach to proceed this story.” That’s how the California Ice Protein model was formally born.
As a budding professional businessman, Hanson found that pure monk fruit was a candy alternative for sugar. He added 80% whey protein focus, too. “It provides you that ice cream texture,” he explains, noting that he additionally added probiotics for intestine well being.
With monetary backing, the previous footballer was in a position to scale up his group to virtually 30 members of workers and has relished this new problem. “(It’s) positively onerous to scale up, since you gotta bear in mind, I’m so used to having my very own cash and doing issues myself,” he tells M&F. “Clearly, when the federal government arrested me, they seized, I feel it was near $20 million in belongings with properties and vehicles and cash, and left me with nothing, proper? I used to be like, holy sh*t, I gotta begin over.” Hanson tells M&F that he wish to see extra younger folks given an opportunity to achieve enterprise through internships in order that they’ll achieve sensible expertise. As for his personal product, Hanson says that it’s best described as “Ice Protein” since it’s a lot more healthy than conventional ice cream. His California Ice Protein bars usually include round 15g of protein with no added sugar and are “handcrafted with care.”
Having earned his MBA whereas in jail, Owen Hanson is lastly proving what his family and friends knew all alongside—that he might be profitable with something that he places his full power into. And, with flavors like “Coliseum Cookies & Cream,” named after his outdated soccer stomping floor and “Strawberry Swole Cake,” named after a former teammate good buddy who visited him in jail each month, Hanson is keen to share the love. “Our subsequent transfer is to get right into a Gelson’s or a Complete Meals,” he says
Don’t wager towards Owen Hanson this time.