Former New Orleans Saints star receiver and entrepreneur Marques Colston learned on the football field the importance of creating separation between himself and a defender in order to make a play. As a venture capitalist, Colston has elevated his art of separation into a business philosophy.

Colston has taken a term used to describe his role on the field for the Saints and turned it into a durable competitive advantage that has allowed him to achieve enviable success since leaving the National Football League in 2015.

He calls it “creating separation” and shared the particulars of the three-part philosophy on Wednesday during a talk at the University of New Orleans.

“This is a joy for me because I get to mix my two passions,” Colston told the audience. “I get to talk about the art and science of running routes, while hopefully adding value in the business realm.”

Colston’s presentation, “Keys to Unlocking Intentional Performance,” came via a sit-down talk with Pamela Kennett-Hensel, dean of UNO’s College of Business Administration. His visit was part of the Homer Hitt Presidential Lecture series held in the University Center’s ballroom.

Colston will also teach a course in UNO’s sport business MBA concentration.

During the interview, Colston shared that his successes and failures, both on and off the field, helped him develop the separation philosophy. As an NFL receiver, Colston said he had to develop an awareness of his strengths and weaknesses and to evaluate the same in an opponent. He had to understand his role, his skillset and his value as player.

“When you run a route, the object is to, in essence, go where the defense isn’t,” Colston said. “When I Ieft football for the next stage of my career, it was something I kept going back to—that process … I started to think about how I wanted to position the next stages of my career; creating separation was at the forefront.”

In business terms, creating separation involves putting yourself in the best position to launch an initiative, performing effectively to reach goals, and being able to sustain that success and ultimately to continue to move the venture to higher levels, Colston said.

“Never stop innovating and never stop investing in your process,” Colston said. “To me, that is the key to sustainability. Your process has to evolve as you evolve.”

Colston is the founder of Marques Colston Enterprises, an executive coaching and development consulting firm, which empowers innovative organizations and growth-minded athletes, entrepreneurs and executives to unlock creativity and possibility to experience sustainable professional success.

A champion for “underestimated and undervalued” talent, Colston launched Venture Investing and Entrepreneurship for Professional Athletes, an executive education program for current and former professional athletes at the Columbia Business School. He partnered with his alma mater, Hofstra University, to create the Marques Colston Fellowship, which provides experiential learning opportunities for student-athletes in health majors. He also taught Entrepreneurship and Leadership to undergraduate students as an adjunct professor at the University of New Orleans. In 2019, Colston received an honorary doctorate from UNO.

Colston, who was a 7th-round NFL draft pick, was not projected to fare well as a professional athlete. However, Colston is a Super Bowl champion, an inductee in the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame and the sports hall of fame in both Pennsylvania and Louisiana. While playing for the New Orleans Saints, he was the all-time franchise leader in receptions, receiving yards and total touchdowns.

As he reflected on his experiences—being the first in his family to go to college, being underrated by scouts or having to “over deliver” to prove he belonged in boardrooms—creating separation has been his mentality for most of his life, Colston said.

Among the many lessons learned as he’s evolved from an NFL player into a venture capitalist and entrepreneur, is to enjoy the journey, Colston said.  

“It’s OK to slow down and be intentional and love the process, appreciate the process, respect the process and invest in your process,” Colston said. “When you’re moving with the right intent and you’re moving with the right plan but it doesn’t work out, there’s still value in that effort.”