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Texas A&M football produces NFL players annually, and one of them is now a fine art photographer. Former quarterback Kellen Mond, who was an Aggie from 2017 to 2020 and is their all-time-leading passer, has transitioned into a new world five years after getting drafted in the third round by the Minnesota Vikings.
Mond admitted to ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview that his football success helped raise his clout in the art space.
“I would definitely say so. I think a large part of the fine art world is about the story of the artist,” he explained. “So, if no one else leaves themselves out of their story with whatever they’re doing, whether they’re photographers, painters, then I definitely shouldn’t. I just happen to have an extremely unique background that the majority of people wouldn’t necessarily have in the fine art world.” .
Mond has transitioned seamlessly, as he had his first art exhibition in Austin on July 10. The 27-year-old played for the UFL’s San Antonio Brahmas last season, but is now retired from football and fully committed to his next step.
“Yeah, I’m done,” he said. “I haven’t thrown a football in a while, so if a team called me, I’m not sure what I’d be able to do in a workout.”
Mond also admitted that he misses the game, but is at peace with his decision.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of components that you miss, especially because I’ve been throwing a football since I was a toddler … You’re extremely accustomed to a locker room and a relationship feel,” the San Antonio native said. “Now, my day-to-day is building relationships with a totally different population of people, more of that high net worth community. Totally different pace, extensive business and multiple different industries. But it’s something that you’re forced to come into peace with … If you don’t move on from missing the game, then it can force you to not be able to execute on things that you plan on doing in the future.”
However, Mond still keeps up with Texas A&M football, and for good reason. The Aggies are coming off their first-ever College Football Playoff (CFP) appearance and rising star quarterback Marcel Reed is returning as a redshirt junior.
“I’m pretty excited about the season. Last year was sort of hard to gauge,” he admitted. “A lot of people were saying we didn’t play enough talent, but then we also had guys who were drafted pretty high. So we definitely had a good team, and now Marcel has extensive experience, [head coach Mike] Elko has extensive experience, and we have guys on the defensive end who have been there for some years.”
Indeed, Texas A&M only played two ranked teams in the regular season but tied a school record with 10 players taken in the 2026 NFL Draft, including seven in the first three rounds. Despite that exodus of talent, it has continuity with key figures like Elko, Reed, star wideout Mario Craver and starting cornerback Dezz Ricks returning. Elko is entering his third season with the program, while Reed is entering his fourth and the latter two players are entering their third. Overall, the squad has 65% of its production on offense, defense and special teams returning, ranking sixth in the SEC and 15th nationally, per 247Sports.
Mond appreciates the Aggies’ ability to retain players in an era with constant transfer portal action due to NIL, which the NCAA legalized in 2021. Over 10,500 college football players entered the portal in January out of the 70-80,000 total players between all three divisions, per NCAA.com.
“That is one of the big things that I’ve always critiqued colleges for in this new era with the NIL transfer portal. They sort of get up and leave and transfer once one thing doesn’t go your way,” he continued. “But Texas A&M has been able to retain a quarterback and many key pieces on the defensive and offensive end for years. And I think the ability to build a program will come from players who have been there for a while or at least have experience in college football.”
Mond admitted that while the school’s players get attractive NIL packages, there are other benefits to staying with the Aggies.
“I mean, I think on the obvious side, I would assume NIL [is a big factor]. But alongside of paying players a specific amount, Texas A&M has invested heavily into the football program, facilities and infrastructure,” he said. “And if you’re going to leave A&M, you have to understand that there’s a very good chance that you won’t have the resources and infrastructure that A&M is able to provide.”
“Obviously, the top-tier teams in the country who also have millions of dollars to pour into the support of athletes can compete,” he continued. “It depends on what you’re basing [the decision] off of. But [Texas A&M] has done a great job with NIL and is coming off of a really good season, so you’re gonna be able to retain players. And then they’ve done such a good job at building sort of a great ecosystem and infrastructure around campus and building out resources for the student athletes.”
Texas A&M has the eighth-highest priced roster value in the country at $32.2 million, per The NIL Standard. However, the school also had the third-highest valued overall athletic program in 2025 at $1.32 billion, per CNBC. The next step is to turn that monetary success into a national championship, which it hasn’t won since 1939.
While Mond will do what he can to help on that front, it’s no longer his main focus.
“I’m still pretty involved with the A&M football team, but now I’ve actually been more doing more stuff on the academic side with the fine art program, which has been great,” he said. “It’s one of those deals where I’ve been a part of the game for so long, I have so much knowledge. I mean, there were opportunities to coach in the NFL and it was part of what was so difficult … It’s like, ‘Do you want to get into coaching if it’s going to take a majority of your time and you have to have a real commitment to it?’”
“While I was winding down my playing career, I was already building the art practice,” he continued. “Maybe if I wasn’t building the art practice already, I think coaching would have been good. But I sort of fell in love with the grind of building out a business, something that I was missing and wasn’t able to do with football slowing down.”
Mond isn’t the first retired player with non-athletic ambitions, which is why he’s a member of Pro Athlete Community (PAC) and AthletesTouch, organizations that help active and former professional athletes navigate life outside of sports. For example, PAC has over 2,700 members.
Mond shared his advice for athletes with separate interests.
“Yeah, it’s sort of a cliche to do what you love. I was fortunate enough to literally do that and turn what was once a hobby into a business,” he explained. “I think a lot of times people keep it as a cliche and say ‘I’m gonna practice my sport and that’s all I’m gonna do. If I have a hobby, it’s gonna stay a hobby.’”
“I think there’s a lot of different things that you can take from a hobby and transform into a business,” he continued. “It just takes a certain level of hustle, grind, and ambition, but it’s something that athletes already have stored within them. I think there’s a lot of room and opportunity, whether it’s doing something you love or simply utilizing your story and status to get in rooms that most people can’t get into. And using your resources while you’re able to is one of the biggest things that athletes should focus on.”
Mond dove deeper into his photography journey and how he plans to help the Texas A&M fine art program.
Kellen Mond Q&A
Joshua Valdez: What lessons did you learn from playing that help you now as a photographer?
Kellen Mond: I think the big thing would be a certain attention to detail. As a quarterback, there is a specific level of training and detail with everything that you do when it comes to footwork, studying and every component of a quarterback. And I think my ability to carry that over and knowing that if I’m ever gonna sell artwork to an art collector, that that work must be deemed perfect in my eye or an event that I’m hosting has to be absolutely perfect. Every detail has a specific purpose, and that’s exactly where that translates from the football side.
Joshua Valdez: Are you happy with where you are so far in your new journey?
Kellen Mond: Yeah. I mean, usually early on it’s a bit of a slow growth. A lot of times when you enter a new world, you’re sort of gauging and trying to figure out what is the best strategy in terms of succeeding in business. I think I’ve been able to do a really good job, especially this year, hosting my debut exhibition. Seeing where everything goes from here is the exciting part.
Joshua Valdez: What are your biggest goals moving forward with it?
Kellen Mond: For me, it’s sort of weird and probably for any artist, the goal is to obviously sell artwork and to meet people. But in reality, you’re in the hospitality and experience business because you’re hosting events, whether they’re large events or hosting people at a studio or something of that sort. That’s sort of your job and to create a good impression as an individual, but hopefully our work also creates a good impression as well … But at the base level, the goal is to sell artwork.
Joshua Valdez: What other lessons have you learned about art so far?
Kellen Mond: It has a much slower pace than the football world. Football is a lot more, I wouldn’t necessarily say complex, but obviously it’s a lot more violent. Totally different pace of the game. The art world is a lot slower not only when it comes to building relationships and networking, but you would love for someone to stand in front of your artwork for a longer period of time and not rush through it.
At one point when I got into photography, it was to simply balance out the chaotic world of being a rookie NFL quarterback. You have the chaotic side on one and then the peaceful side on the other. So now that the chaotic side from football is gone, you’re stuck with something that is extremely peaceful. It’s not a bad thing, but sometimes you need some of that chaotic side to sort of balance out. So there was a bit of that chaotic stress when it came to putting together and curating this exhibition, and even up to three hours prior to it starting.
Joshua Valdez: How do you plan to help the Texas A&M fine art program?
Kellen Mond: So I was actually introduced to another artist who was there who graduated from A&M’s fine arts school and then moved on to the New York School of the Arts, which was a huge deal. Her dad actually reached out when he saw my work and was like, “I think you would enjoy it.” So I actually met the professor, I met with their dean, met with the Texas A&M Foundation and their development officer who oversees that Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts program.
So I’m not going back as a student, but asking “How do we build down an art program that matches or can reach a certain standard that we would love at Texas A&M?” We have such a great business school, engineering, and so many other brilliant schools. How can we put more into this specific program? If I can utilize my resources and connections from the art world to help out, that’s the main goal.
Joshua Valdez: Will that entail you being at the school a lot?
It’s still early stages, so it is sort of hard to see. Even if I were there once a month or every other week, it’s super easy. I live north of Houston, so it takes me less than an hour and a half to get there. It’s more about what’s the scope of the work, how can I help out and be reliable?
I think a large part of it is, what does it look like whenever the students graduate from A&M, what sort of status comes with having a degree from the Texas A&M fine arts program? If there’s ways to be able to get graduates into an art gallery show once they graduate, that makes it extremely enticing for people who are thinking about coming to A&M because that opportunity will help their career. So many artists take years and years to get into a gallery show. Even if it’s at a smaller, low level gallery, the ability to be able to showcase your artwork, whether it’s in College Station or even if it’s in Houston or Dallas, there’s so many Aggies who I think would support. So we’ll continue to build that out.
Joshua Valdez: Have you sensed a general art interest with A&M?
Kellen Mond: I wouldn’t necessarily say so directly. Honestly, A&M is known for their engineering, agriculture, it’s a large profession when it comes to sort of real estate, land and development. Art is definitely not one of the main key things that Texas A&M is known for.
The thing is, the whole entire program is Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts. We have a top performance and visualization program, because a lot of our students become graphic designers at Pixar and Disney, for example. So now, how can we continue to build out the fine arts side? But I think when it comes to the principles of Texas A&M versus the principles that are ran by in the fine art world, they’re exactly alike … When it comes to tradition, legacy, meaning, story … That is everything, that Texas A&M embodies as a university, and those are the core principles of the fine art world at its traditional level.
Texas A&M football produces NFL players annually, and one of them is now a fine art photographer. Former quarterback Kellen Mond, who was an Aggie from 2017 to 2020 and is their all-time-leading passer, has transitioned into a new world five years after getting drafted in the third round by the Minnesota Vikings.
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