Posted on 03/02/2023 6:22:39 AM PST by Red Badger
Former NFL wide receiver Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson has made a series of surprising remarks about money in interviews over the last few weeks, including that he once lived at his former team’s stadium for nearly two years.
In an interview with Fox Sports host Shannon Sharpe, Johnson claimed that he saved more than 80% of his career earnings by not buying fancy cars and buying fake jewelry, despite earning nearly $50 million from his playing days.
“Fly private?” Johnson said during the interview. “I ain’t flying private. Spirit, put me on Spirit, exit row, window seat. That’s all I need. As long as I get from point A to point B, I don’t need private.”
He said that an athlete’s goal should be to get to a point in their career where their name becomes bigger than anything they can purchase.
“My name itself, Ochocinco at one point, even still to this day, is bigger than — why am I driving a Ferrari?” he said. “Why am I driving a Rolls-Royce when I’m Ocho? Oh, we talk about jewelry and watches and chains; I never bought real anything when I was playing. Never. What was the point? What am I doing it for?”
“The women don’t deal with anyway because of who you are, right?” he continued. “And then the other women who are really doing their homework, they’ll Google how much you making already. Why am I buying a $50,000 watch? $80,000 watch? What time is it real quick, please? … The time is free. So what am I paying for it for?
“Everybody’s caught up in image and looking a certain way and being rich. It’s me. It’s pointless,” he continued. “You know how hard it is to live like that all the time, consistently, and be fly every day?”
He noted that the previous generation of celebrities all had their time in the sun but they could not sustain it forever because it’s impossible to do.
“You gotta remember, I stayed at the stadium the first two years because I didn’t want to spend no money,” Johnson added. “What’s the point? Why are you telling me to go rent a house, go buy a house, or go rent a condo when everything I need is right here in the facility?”
“Showers, cafeteria, TV, couch, gaming system. What’s the point? I was so locked in. It wasn’t about having my own space,” he added. “I needed that one-year lock-in to catch the rhythm. In the second year, I got that rhythm.”
If I made that kind of money, I’d buy up as many rental properties as I possibly could, and hire somebody to manage them.
I’d manage them myself!.......Like, what else you gonna do?...........
PING!...............
Well sure, once your playing days are over, but it would be pretty hard to balance both out while still playing.
Meaningless, like chasing after the wind…
I have never understood the need to spend money for show. The only time we went overboard was when we were selling our house and those upgrades and remodels (house was built in the 1940s and was still original everything) more than paid for themselves.
Because most former players only have 2.5 years in the league getting paid minimum on a rookie contract. Good for $750k - 1.25 Mil over 3 years, but then things start to add up:
Taxes, buying mom a house, living in a major metropolitan area for most of the year, and being young & sorta dumb means you may not have too much other than a nice car and the house for Mom when you start your REAL career — coaching. Or selling insurance.
I’d wait until I retired from the game..............
Probably real good advice 10 years ago. Maybe not so good now.
Google apartment glut; and for houses, you'd be competing with the international bankers in New York, and the bubble starting to pop in certain overpriced markets. Top that up with eviction moratoriums, and housing doesn't look so great these days.
As for commercial, I'd wait and see if the companies can make forced returns to the office stick before I'd head that direction.
I would stay away from commercial, definitely.
Making $20 million seems like a lot, but if you retire at 32 that gives you $400K a year to live on. Most players don’t do that math and think they can spend millions every year.
In a sane world this guy would be sought out as speaker. The man at his core is a stoic.
I firmly believe all high school and college students should have to take a course in financial management.
That’s investment, carries risk, and involves work and worry. He was a saver. Both are good practices. He was beyond frugal, he was cheap, but a lot of people who did not have much growing up are frugal. Some go the other way, have no idea of how to manage money. Ben Coates had six children with five women in his first year in the NFL. (Took care of his spending habits, I am sure.) He was shocked! Shocked I tell you! To learn how little he made as a high school football coach after his playing days were over.
Wow!
Well I assume he wasn’t putting it in a mattress, he had to be investing it somewhere.
A black NFL player with common sense comes to mind. Discipline in life generally means crucifying ego and immediate gratification. He should write a book about money for NFL rookies.
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