Not many Uber drivers are asked for their autograph after a ride. Then again, there’s never been a Seattle Seahawk sitting behind the app-for-hire wheel before. Demitrius Bronson is ready to change that.

“Friday night or Saturday night when I’m not doing something, why not make a few extra bucks?” asked Bronson, 24, a member of the Seahawks practice squad. “I’ve got two kids at home.”

Turns out not everything Bronson has learned since landing in the NFL has been related to the football field.

The Kentwood High School alumnus, who signed as an undrafted free agent with the defending champs over the summer, is looking beyond the CenturyLink turf to secure a steady income.

Practice squad players earn a minimum of $6,300 per week during the season, though the Seahawks don’t release specific contract information. As a young man with a burgeoning bank account, and a non-guaranteed contract, Bronson must consider where to put his money carefully.

“It looks like a lump sum of money, but you have to expand it out,” he said.

The average NFL career lasts 3.3 years, according to the NFL Players Association. The NFL claims the average is six years for players who make an opening roster their rookie season. Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated estimated in 2009 that 78 percent of former NFL players had gone bankrupt or were under financial stress after two years of retirement.

Demitrius’ main source for capital advice comes from his older brother, John, a former tight end who played a total of three games in the 2005 and 2006 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals and is now the chairman of the Pro Athlete Chamber of Commerce in Phoenix.

Although football is Demitrius’ full-time gig, he is also looking for advice about a few side projects. That includes picking the brain of former Seahawks owner John Nordstrom when the former retail magnate visits practices.

“There are great resources here if you just take the time to look what’s around you,” he said. “Those people (like Nordstrom), a lot of times you’re not going to run into on the street. The setting I’m in, either way you can be a special person.”

Beyond Nordstrom and his older brother, one of the biggest resources for business advice has come from a surprising source: his Skittles-toting, media shunning, defense bulldozing teammate Marshawn Lynch.

Bronson nearly purchased a coffee shop in Lakeland Hills with his wife, Tatiana Kawachi, a long-time barista in Covington, though he said Lynch cautioned him against it. Instead, Bronson said Lynch encouraged him to invest on better developing a brand for himself.

Taking lessons from Lynch’s “Beast Mode,” Bronson is in the process of designing a website for merchandise and apparel related to his own Twitter hashtag: Compete or Don’t Eat. Bronson said he received a copyright for the slogan and its acronym, CODE. He plans to put branding on merchandise and potentially as part of offseason camps.

“It’s surprising how many people want, let alone Seahawks stuff, but my stuff and I haven’t even touched the field yet,” he said.

By putting a stamp on himself, Bronson hopes to generate money without Bronson technically working. It’s one of the many logistical lessons Bronson said he’s learned from Lynch, who he called “a great mentor.”

“It’s too bad people can’t see that side of him,” Bronson said.

Bronson is also looking forward to showing his own affable and respectful nature as a driver for Uber, the popular transportation app.

Bronson said he signed up to drive his 2010 Honda Accord for Uber in the offseason and is awaiting confirmation on a background check. Bronson said there is an element of danger as an Uber driver, especially as a pseudo-celebrity, and that he wouldn’t likely tell customers about his day job unless called out on it.

“I think it’s a cool gig, though,” Bronson said. “It’s just free money. There’s a lot of free money out there other than just playing football; there’s a lot of other opportunities to try and make a name for yourself, as well.”

Besides the extra income, Bronson said staying busy with work might keep him away from any potential troubles that can come with downtime — staying out later than usual, going to bars, getting into fights.

“Next thing you know you’re on the front of the Seattle Times,” he said.

ON THE FIELD

While growing his business life off the field, Bronson, who played football in college at the University of Washington and Eastern Washington, appears to be working even harder to get on it.

As expected, the running back-heavy Seahawks cut Bronson Aug. 25 in the third week of preseason, only to bring him back two days later. They cut him again Aug. 30, but signed him to the 10-man practice squad the next day.

“They told me I was coming back,” Bronson said. “But you have that uncertainty.”

Bronson rushed for 76 yards on 18 carries and caught one pass for five yards during the preseason. He felt the game experience went “pretty good,” except, of course, for “that drop.”

“That probably would have won the game, for one, and would have been a touchdown,” said Bronson of a fourth down screen pass he mishandled against the Denver Broncos.

Bronson said he received every snap as running back for the scout team, which runs against the Seahawks’ vaunted starting defensive unit. Bronson said he learned to embrace the hectic, all-out nature of the practice squad.

“This is my job for right now,” he said. “For me, I started looking at it as a bonus.”

Not everyone takes the profession as seriously as Bronson, who said he’s learned a lot about focus and effort from Legion of Boomers Earl Thomas and Cam Chancellor. Bronson said he earned their respect by revving his own nonstop motor every practice.

“(Thomas and Chancellor) see the work, the strain that I put on the field,” Bronson said. “A lot of backs that come in here, I don’t feel they take it as seriously as I would take it. You’d be surprised, there’s a difference.”

Coaches played the 5-foot-9-inch, 210-pounder in practice at both running back spots, as well as special teams and even middle linebacker.

“I don’t know why they put me over there (on defense),” Bronson said. “I’m not the linebacker size but honestly I think they wanted somebody who would give them a good look.”

Bronson never made the regular season active roster, though he believes he came close. He said the coaches made a surprise announcement at the beginning of one Saturday practice that he’d be pulled up to the 53 man roster. Bronson spread the news to his wife, family and social media supporters. Hours later, though, he learned there’d been some sort of miscommunication. Though the rug being pulled back on his promotion stung, Bronson said he understood.

“I wasn’t mad,” he said. “It just wasn’t my time yet. For whatever reason it wasn’t my time yet.”

Despite seeing no game action, Bronson has impressed. After pulling a hamstring in practice, Seahawks officials made the relatively uncommon decision of moving Bronson from the practice squad to Injured Reserve on Nov. 12, rather than cutting him outright from the roster. Though the move ended Bronson’s season, he continues to watch every game from the sidelines and soak in the Seahawks’ system.

Seahawks Running Back Coach Sherman Smith told The Reporter through a team spokesman via email that Bronson possesses good power, speed, patience and a desire to learn.

“I think he has a great chance to contribute to our team next year,” Smith said in the email. “I’m excited about him. We’ve talked about him out there on the field and the coaches have talked about him. He’s really good for our offense, good for our team. Just the way he approaches his business, he wants to be a good pro. So we like him. We like him a lot.”

ROAD TO THE ROSTER

Bronson attends every meeting and practice, strengthening his hold on the mental aspect of the game. He gets to the Renton practice facility at 6 a.m. each morning, weight lifting and rehabbing. Then there are position meetings and a walk-through. That’s followed by lunch and practice. Bronson tries to squeeze in an extra 30-45 minutes of stretching and cardio work when he can.

“I use that as a mental time for me,” he said.

Afterwards, Bronson watches tape of practice and drives back to his home in Auburn — typically around 6 p.m.

“I’ve learned a ton just watching practice and watching the plays,” he said.

Bronson said he hopes Seattle is home throughout his career, but he also understands it’s not entirely up to him.

“I would love to stay in Seattle the rest of my career but it’s football,” Bronson said. “There’s a business aspect.”

Bronson said an offer to another team’s 53-man roster would be tempting, but that there would still be no guarantees he wouldn’t be cut a week or two later.

“For some reason it just feels right here,” Bronson said. “The connection, the coaches… everything going feels right right here in Seattle. It would have been very difficult to leave even if team was calling me with a spot on the roster.”

Bronson’s biggest area of improvement, he said, is mental — not dwelling so much on a misstep or a dropped pass.

“I’ve just been learning to not think and just play,” he said. “You drop a pass, so what, go to the next play… You’re going to make mistakes in football… but it’s how you come back from that mistake is the real truth.”

These are, again, tips he’s picked up from Lynch, who Bronson said can be much more emotional about mistakes than he sometimes lets on.

“The way he gets portrayed sometimes is far off,” Bronson said. “The whole not talking to the media, I don’t know why he doesn’t like it. He just says he likes to play the game of football. He’s truly been a mentor on and off the field.”

SOCIAL LIFE

Kentwood high school football coach Rex Norris recently hosted Bronson and his family for dinner. Norris said Bronson is the same humble, remarkably hard-working kid he remembers.

“He’s probably an improved version of himself, but he’s still the same person,” Norris said. “Same perspective; very down to earth young man.”

Bronson has been stopped for pictures at Fred Meyer and gets asked for autographs during what would otherwise be relaxing evenings out. It can get overwhelming, he admits, but he appreciates the support.

“I think it’s tight,” he said. “I think it’s nice people notice because, like I said, I haven’t done anything yet.”

Until he reaches the field, and probably even after, Bronson is not taking anything for granted – including his employment.

“For the most part it’s fun; I love it,” Bronson said. “It’s only here for a split second and when it’s gone you’re gonna wish it was still there.”