These 6 Dual Career Athletes Are Surprising
by Richard Janvrin,
January 15, 2026
When you think of a professional athlete, you don’t immediately think of the concept of “dual career athletes,” meaning those who compete at a professional level but have “day jobs.”
While that’s not the case in many sports or for many players, it is the reality for many professional athletes pursuing their dreams.
Below, we’ll examine some of these hard-working athletes and athletes with full-time jobs.
Morelle McCane
McCane is a 30-year-old female boxer who won the silver medal at the 2023 Santiago Games in the Women’s 66kg category and is one of many dual-career athletes who also compete in the Olympic Games.
However, since she began pursuing boxing at 17, she’s worked an intriguing line of jobs, including being a birthday clown, daycare supervisor, and even working in a mailroom.
She worked these jobs to finance her boxing training.
“You just have to find what you can for the moment sometimes,” Morelle said to the Houston Chronicle. “Because the good-paying jobs, they want you around for a long time, so you just have to find something that you can get, get quick and keep that income coming in.”
Robert Owen
When you think of athletics, the one sport that may not immediately come to mind is professional dart players.
As for Owen, not only is he the No. 63-ranked player in the world (he moved down five spots as of January 3, 2026), but he’s also, as of December 2024, a part-time delivery driver for a local supermarket chain in Iceland.
“I had to go to work because she was on maternity leave,” Owen said.
“We couldn’t afford to really have no-one out of work. I went back to work and have been working 50, sometimes 60, hours a week while she’s been off, just to cover everything. That’s my responsibility as a father and a parent.
“But amongst all that, I’ve been going away and playing darts. I think I’ve done pretty well, probably the last seven, eight months while all that’s been going on.
“But I love my job. I love going out to the community and going everywhere.
“I don’t feel like I’m doing a job. I’m delivering people shopping, and I enjoy it, which is sad, really,” Owen finished.
While darts isn’t a physical sport, Owen is certainly one of the hardest-working athletes out there.
Josh Rosen
While success often comes in the form of winning Olympic medals or winning championships in your respective sport, that’s not the case for Rosen. Instead, his success comes with being a former No. 10 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
At this time, Rosen hasn’t officially retired, but he hasn’t been on an NFL roster since his contract with the Minnesota Vikings expired on January 15, 2023. He hasn’t thrown a pass in a game since 2021 with the Atlanta Falcons.
Rosen was selected by the Arizona Cardinals, a team that didn’t have an offensive line or a stable coaching situation for him.
Also, this was just before the rise of sports betting apps, which is notable because if he were coming out today, fans may have wagered on him to be the No. 1 overall pick in that draft class, despite other quarterbacks coming out like Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, and Josh Allen. Rosen was actually selected before the two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson.
That said, many speculated that Rosen wasn’t “all-in” on football, and some criticized that, due to his upper-class upbringing and the “rich kid” label.
That said, his college coach from UCLA, Jim Mora, came to his defense:
“There were really a couple things (that were bothersome). Number one, that he didn’t love football and wasn’t committed to the game because I’ve watched him for years, and his commitment is undeniable,” Mora said. “Number two, the thing that bothered me was that people said that he wasn’t durable, which is nonsense. He’s extremely durable. He’s played through pain, he’s played through injuries. He had a concussion, and at this level and at any level, I’d hope, if a player sustains a concussion, we’re going to be careful with it.
In 2024, Rosen went on to become a student at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Fun fact: the school was founded by Joseph Wharton, who is Rosen’s great-great-great-grandfather. It’s also said that he works as an investment banker at J.P. Morgan.
Nic Fink
Fink is one of the most accomplished Olympic athletes on this list.
He’s now 32 years old and won a gold medal and two silver medals at the 2024 Paris Games. Additionally, he has won six gold, three silver, and four bronze medals, all between 2022 and 2024.
While he’s an extremely accomplished Olympian and swam for the Georgia Bulldogs, he still has a full-time engineering job. His last known employer was a firm based in Atlanta.
“I thought there was a chance that as I dedicated more time into engineering, perhaps my swimming career would begin to sunset,” he told NBC News. “But finding that balance has actually helped me in both, and my swimming’s been just as good or better than ever. It’s been fun to enjoy this part of the ride.”
To say Fink is a hard-working athlete would be an understatement.
Zachery Schubert
In one of the most shocking “day jobs,” Schubert, an Olympic beach volleyball player from Australia, helps run his family-owned cricket farm, Schubugs Cricket Farm.
According to their website, you can purchase live cricket from them, including dried crickets for about $8 AUD. These are meant for consumption and on their website, it discusses the benefits of crickets, which Schubert says he eats, though “not regularly.”
“It’s more like it’s for substituting your diet. It’s not like we’re pushing people to eat insects in every single meal. It’s more of an add-on to increase protein intake. It’s not like I’m a crazy bug person,” Schubert said to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Schubert, 30, has $87,425 in prize winnings from competition, including a first-place finish with Fédération Internationale de Volleyball. Professional volleyball is among the underfunded sports.
That said, Schubert is one of the more intriguing dual-career athletes.
Jourdan Delacruz
Delacruz is a four-time gold, two-time silver, and one-time bronze Olympic winner. She won bronze at the 2023 Riyadh Games and last won gold at the 2023 Bariloche Games.
Her training routine is quite extensive:
“I train twice a day, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I have single sessions on Tuesday and Saturday, with two rest days per week. Leading up to an Olympic qualifier, it is important to me to keep my routine as consistent as possible. Outside of training, I make sure that I regularly see my physical therapist, speak with my psychologist, and work with my sports dietitian to dial in my recovery and preparation for competition,” Delacruz said in an interview with Velaasa.
The 27-year-old holds a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics and started the company Herathlete, which is an online platform designed for female athletes.