Eddie played 350 games of professional Australian Rules football in a career that lasted 17-years across two clubs – Carlton & Adelaide. An Aboriginal man with connections to the Gubrun People of the Kalgoorlie Goldfields and Wirangu/Kokatha People of the Far-West Coast of South Australia.

Since Eddie’s retirement from Football, he has immersed himself in a variety of roles. Eddie worked with Geelong Football Club in a development coaching role, playing a part in their 2022 premiership success. Eddie is a media presenter on Fox Footy and also provides consultation and guest speaking services for organisations. Eddie Betts won numerous awards for his AFL career, most notably four AFL Goal of the Year awards (2006, 2015, 2016, 2019) and three-time All-Australian honours (2015, 2016, 2017). He was also a Carlton leading goalkicker twice (2010, 2012), an Adelaide leading goalkicker four times (2014-2017), and won the Carlton Best First-Year Player award in 2005. In 2021, he was also awarded the Madden Medal.

Eddie is passionate about working with organisations to create culturally safe spaces for Mob to live, work and learn, while making opportunities for Aboriginal youth to thrive in education and sport. After leaving his coaching role at the Cats in November 2022, Betts turned his attention to his foundation, the Eddie Betts Foundation, which supports young Indigenous Australians in sport. The foundation, a registered charity, runs a football academy and basketball program, as well as education, community, and mentoring programs.

When Betts entered the AFL at 17 years of age, he had the reading and writing ability of a six- to seven-year-old, and knows the challenges and disadvantage this can cause young people, leading him to create a series of educational books for children. His “Lil’ Homies” book series aim to help kids read with confidence and enjoyment and give them the chance to express their own personality into the story.
His first book, My Kind: Rap Yourself and Others in Kindness with Eddie and the Lil’ Homies (2018), is about spreading kindness and helping kids understand acceptance and equality.

My People (2019), Betts’ second book for children, is about sharing and educating kids on Aboriginal culture and Australia’s First Nations peoples. Betts is often asked to visit schools to share his knowledge and experience.

The Lil’ Homies series has been adapted for television, with a ten-part series released on NITV and Netflix (the first co-commission between the two) in early 2024. The series stars Hunter Page-Lochard as Eddie, Miah Madden as Lottie, Andrew Dang as Tal, and Billy Betts (Eddie Betts’ eight-year-old son) as Junior.

Betts’ memoir, The Boy from Boomerang Crescent, was published in August 2022. Part of Betts’ motivation for writing it was to help educate non-Indigenous Australians “how we live as Aboriginal people, within the communities. What we face in our life,” and the challenges faced by Aboriginal children. It won the Social Impact Book of the Year at the 2023 Australian Book Industry Awards.