How a Cowboys Third String QB’s Million Dollar Side Hustle Is Now Starting to Take Off

Ben DiNucci has faced a bit of misfortune during his playing career. However, he has developed something which is slowly becoming his new identity. The former Dallas Cowboys QB hasn’t started in an NFL game in the last three years and expects to make his return for the Seattle Seahawks.

DiNucci has, however, experienced his fair share of success in the business world. During his earlier days with the Cowboys, Ben got involved with a streetwear and hat company based in Dallas. What started as just a side hustle has quickly evolved into a million-dollar asset for the young quarterback. And the story is simply fascinating.

Ben DiNucci cracked a superb deal

Back in 2020, Sang Truong, the owner of True Brvnd was enjoying himself watching the NFL draft. That’s when the Dallas Cowboys selected a quarterback in the seventh round out of James Madison University. That particular QB was Ben DiNucci. Truong was highly impressed by DiNucci’s Instagram and thought of reaching out to him.

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As Ben DiNucci recalls, “I was sitting in my hotel room during camp last year, saw a bunch of notifications come up from True Brvnd like, ‘what is this.’ So I clicked on it, and the first thing I saw was the upside-down Dallas and I said, ‘this is interesting.’ Upside down you can tell it says Dallas, but it is going to make you look twice.”

Sang Truong wanted to present Dallas to the world through his products, and this message resonated clearly with Ben DiNucci. The duo kickstarted their partnership. They came up with hats representing the area’s various sports team’s colors, and other collaborations with iconic buildings and symbols in the area like the Reunion Tower, Bronco Bowl, and Dallas’ official mascot the Pegasus.

But the masterclass was the way they marketed their product. Instead of doing paid ads, Truong and DiNucci decided to send hats to EVERY pro athlete in Dallas.

Often times these athletes would end up posting pictures of themselves wearing these hats, grabbing a lot of eyeballs in the process.

“We refreshed Twitter and got 100 new followers saying what is that hat and I go into the comments, Sang goes into the comments and comments at True Brand, people see that and they are directed to our page, and I think just the word of mouth and how we have kind of been able to use social media to our advantage for marketing has really helped us,” DiNucci shared.

The expansion of brand

The True Brvnd team has been growing constantly. Collaborating with stores, expanding in newer cities outside of Dallas, and most notably coming up with signature athlete hats have been some of their greatest achievements. Even though Truong and DiNucci believe they have a solid outreach and marketing plan to push their brand to Dallasites and new streetwear fans, they believe the brand speaks for itself.

The formula for success, they said, is developing something that is not only aesthetically pleasing but centered around an idea that customers at home and across the globe can rally around.

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