Bryce Huff didn’t just step away from football. He stepped straight into a completely different fight.
At 27, after finishing a productive run with the 49ers and collecting a Super Bowl ring with the Philadelphia Eagles, the former defensive end has walked away from the NFL to build a company focused on one of the ugliest problems in modern infrastructure: lithium-ion battery fires. Instead of taking in a $5.4 million contract year in Santa Clara, Huff is putting his energy into Naberstone, the safety venture he launched with his brother, Jordan.
For Huff, the move isn’t a mystery. It’s a mission.
He explained to The Athletic that batteries are now everywhere, from cars to tools to bikes, and that the danger comes when they’re damaged, malfunction, or short circuit. “Everything is slowly but surely containing batteries, from cars to our tools to bikes, you name it,” Huff explained in a profile with The Athletic.
“The biggest risk with batteries is the way they ignite if they were to take on some type of damage or malfunction or short circuit. One cell in the battery combusts … and then it’s just like a chain reaction throughout the battery.”
That chain reaction is exactly what Naberstone is trying to stop. Over the last year, Huff and Jordan have been developing a specialized compound designed to shut down thermal events without releasing carcinogenic materials into the surrounding environment. The company has already drawn enough institutional support that the brothers have finalized a partnership with an international manufacturer, with plans to scale production for fire departments and transit hubs around the world.
The football world may see the decision as abrupt, but Huff’s path suggests something more deliberate. Before he ever became known for the 24 career sacks he piled up with the Jets, Eagles and 49ers, he was headed toward mechanical engineering at the University of Memphis.
He balanced late-night calculus labs with early-morning film sessions before a university budget cut led to the layoff of the engineering professor he favored most. After that, he put the academic route on hold and committed fully to football.
Even then, the science side never really left.
Huff’s retirement means leaving behind the non-guaranteed $5.4 million base payout tied to the upcoming 2026 campaign. But the financial cushion he built over six NFL seasons gave him the runway to fund Naberstone’s research and development on his own.
He said the business made sense from both angles. "I knew we would be able to help a lot of people, and the monetary upside was there as well," Huff said when evaluating the explosive commercial traction his firm secured over the last twelve months.
"So I feel like it was kind of making sense back then, but even more so after this season with how much traction we’ve gained over the last year."
For Huff, this is not about abandoning one identity for another. It’s about choosing where he believes he can do the most good. And at 27, he’s decided that his future is no longer tied to sacks and Sundays.
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