He said he grandfather told him it’s not about how much you make, it’s how much you keep. His first two seasons, he was making over $60k then over $70k. He never saw $40M playing in the NFL, but he wasn’t dumb with his money like a lot of these dudes who actually made more in their careers.
He also grew up dirt poor. His grandfather instilled in him and shannon to always manage your money.
Sharpe said he stayed frugal his 1st few years in the league too.
Also this ain't no athlete issue too. Even well to do high earners have this issue when they run out of money. My brother in law who is older than me said that after 9/11 when all these engineers were laid off (including him), many refused to get lower paying jobs once their unemployment ran out.
Some of the kats he knew would have their unemployment run out and instead of just getting some basic low paying salary job or hourly job to get some money in their pocket (instead of eating on their savings or 401k). Many of them said the hell with that cause they were worried about what others thought.
My brother in law instead had a under the table side job when he was laid off as an engineer getting unemployment checks. Then when his unemployment benefits ran out he got a job at Walmart and was delivering papers until he was able to get another engineering job then quit those jobs.
