How playing chess helped NFL star Larry Fitzgerald slow down his thoughts while managing ADHD and level up his investing game | Fortune

"For veteran NFL wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald Jr, the decision to invest in chess.com goes back to his youth, when the centuries old board game had a formative influence in his life and helped him manage the challenges of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. "It really helped me through some difficult times, being diagnosed with ADHD, and helping me kind of slow down my thoughts and be more strategic," Fitzgerald said on Monday at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech conference in Park City, Utah. Long before Fitzgerald was a football star who played 17 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, he was an active and accomplished chess player, having learned the game from his father, who had played on the Indiana State University chess team and football team."

"Both Rensch and Fitzgerald discussed the importance of continuing to bring younger generations into the game, even as video games, social media and other flashier forms of entertainment compete for kids' attention. "It's not just for super smart people or whatever the stereotype would be," said Rensch. "Because it is something that breaks down barriers of age, and gender. It brings people together in a way that other games don't." While learning and understanding the strategy to elevate your chess game takes time and work, Fitzgerald believes the result is what can make it so rewarding to kids."

""We played chess every single day, my dad would beat up on us all the time," Fitzgerald said during an on-stage discussion alongside chess.com co-founder and Internal Master Danny Rensch."

Professional athletes are becoming a growing class of startup investors, choosing projects for a mix of personal connection and broader impact. Larry Fitzgerald invested in chess.com because chess shaped his youth, helped him manage ADHD, and taught strategic thinking. Fitzgerald learned the game from his father and credits chess with slowing his thoughts and improving focus. Danny Rensch emphasized chess’s ability to break down barriers of age and gender and to bring people together. Both speakers stressed the need to attract younger players amid competition from video games and social media, and noted that mastering strategy requires time and effort but yields rewarding results for kids.

Read at Fortune