Plummer to host event for Super Bowl
Festival aims to shake ‘status quo’
Former Arizona State and Cardinals quarterback Jake Plummer is offering a counterpoint to the big-ticket concerts and VIP parties Super Bowl 57 is bringing to town: yoga in the park and an allday seminar on naturopathic medicine.
Expect lots of talk about mushrooms at the Remembrance Health and Wellness Festival on Feb. 11 at Chandler Park, as Plummer is now involved with two Colorado companies selling specialized fungi.
His businesses don’t sell psychedelic mushrooms, though Plummer is a fan of those, too. The mushrooms from Mycolove Farm in Colorado won’t send users on a psychedelic journey, and neither will the mushroom nutrition bars sold by his other company, Umbo.
But the “functional mushrooms,” as advocates like to call them, offer other benefits, said Plummer, who played for ASU and spent a decade in the NFL with the Cardinals and Denver Broncos. He said he started taking functional mushrooms a few years ago.
Functional mushrooms might not offer users hallucinations or a mindbending journey through space and time, but they’re not run-of-the-mill pizza or salad toppings, either. The term is used to describe somewhat exotic mushrooms grown specifically for their health benefits rather than as a food source.
“I felt healthy and started the healing process on a deeper level. I don’t have inflammation and the sore, achy joints I had a few years ago. My body has found a way to reverse that damage,” Plummer said in an interview. “I feel like I slowed down my aging process.”
Plummer said non-psychedelic mushrooms like lions mane, turkey tail, reishi and cordyceps have fallen out of favor over time and his goal is to help people recognize their benefits.
“It will do nothing to hurt you and it may help you a lot,” he said.
Plummer’s businesses sell direct to consumers online, though he said the REI outdoor gear store in Boulder, Colorado, recently began carrying the mushroom nutrition bars from Umbo.
Event meant to shake up ‘status quo’
Plummer said he wanted to do something different during Super Bowl weekend than the usual celebrity events.
“Super Bowl is a big party. A lot of people come out and drink heavily and consume a lot,” he said. “We wanted to have something that would be a little more to shake up the status quo.”
Plummer said he recently got a teacher training certificate for yoga and wanted to share that at his event.
The Chandler event’s name, Remembrance, is a reference to cultures that have used a variety of mushrooms for human ailments over time.
“We are remembering what we already know,” he said. “To be a conduit for that, I am extremely privileged and honored to be able to spread this word.”
As for psychedelic mushrooms, which Plummer’s current home state of Colorado legalized at the ballot in November, Plummer said that’s a different subject.
While he’s not trying to sell psychedelics, a portion of proceeds from Umbo go to Unlimited Sciences, a psychedelic research nonprofit that collects data on the use of psychedelic mushrooms, which remain illegal at the federal level.
He teamed up with the Marijuana Industry Trade Association in Arizona to pull in other partners. MITA founder Demitri Downing said he appreciates Plummer’s attitude towards responsible adult use rather than “recreational” or heavy consumption of cannabis and psychedelic mushrooms.
Downing said that’s something he tries to promote through MITA, and was glad to partner with Plummer on an event that contrasts with the alcoholheavy celebrations around the Super Bowl. Plummer also teamed up with on the event with fellow former NFL player Ricky Williams, who spent 11 years in the league with various teams, including the Miami Dolphins.
Plummer has advocated for the use of CBD and reforming marijuana rules in the NFL. Williams became a cannabis entrepreneur in recent years.
Plummer said they share a mission of helping people, including former athletes and veterans who have turned to both cannabis and mushrooms for health reasons.
“It’s definitely a hot topic and helping some people overcome disease and suffering,” Plummer said. “Our cause is to bring awareness and to educate, and also to research and see if we can push the ball forward and see if there is some healing in these organisms, this entire kingdom and food group that has been eliminated from our diet.”
Plummer has maintained strong ties to Arizona since retiring from football, including with Pat’s Run, which benefits the foundation named after Pat Tillman, a teammate of Plummer’s at ASU and with the Cardinals.
Event includes yoga, drum circle, health presentations
Plummer’s event in Chandler is scheduled to begin with a Native American
drum circle followed by a yoga session at 10:45 a.m., which will include Plummer and Williams.
The day’s schedule includes presentations on managing pain without opioids and neuroprotection for athletes.
Several health and wellness businesses are partners in the event, including Sonoran University of Health Sciences, a naturopathic school in Tempe.
Remembrance is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m at Chandler Park at 178 E. Commonwealth Ave. in Chandler. Admission is free but participating in the yoga costs $40-$50, with tickets available online through Eventbrite.