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Originally Posted by raybec 4
Everyone always says this. These guys have very short careers and all want to maximize their earning potential. I can't beleve how many times we hear every offseason "If _____ wants to win they'll take less to play with Mahomes." No one takes less unless they are already set with other streams of income. Bolton will want as much as he can get just like everyone else.
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They also have wildly different situations. Mahomes grew up (assuming) upper middle class as the son of a journeyman major-leaguer. He might not have many close or extended family members that are living in poverty or barely getting by.
Another player might have a giant family, all of them expecting him to stabilize them financially.
This article really opened my eyes to what osme of these players are going through. Just heartbreaking.
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/po...h-nfl-football
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Then, when you go off to college, everything will snowball fast. While you’re doing your thing at North Carolina A&T, Tyrell and Dante are both going to drop out of school. It’s going to eat at you when you’re older. The guilt. The knowledge that if you’d been around, you never would’ve let them drop out. Once they do, though, run-ins with the law are going to become common — fighting, stealing Jordans, weed. You’ll try to send home what little money you have, hoping it will stop them from stealing, but it won’t.
You’ll try tough love. You’ll try the opposite. You’ll try … everything.
When you reach your wits’ end, and can’t think of anything else to do, you’re going to sit them down and … I don’t want to say beg them, but, like … you’re basically going to plead with them.
“Just give me a little more time. Lay low. Don’t get in any big trouble for a bit more, and I’ll make everything right for all of us once I get to the league. I got y’all. I promise. I’ll buy you all the Jordans you want. Just give me a few years.”
The thing is: You won’t have a few years.
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When you sign that first contract, it’s going to feel like a huge weight being lifted off your shoulders. The day before your signing bonus hits, you won’t have a cent to your name. In fact, it’ll be even worse than that. You’ll be in the red. You’ll even take a screenshot to remember it.
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It’s not going to last, though. The money won’t even be enough to buy a place in Chicago for yourself, much less set up your whole family. And your brother Dante, when he realizes that it won’t all of a sudden be Easy Street for him with you in the league … he’s gonna feel that. He’ll be 18 at that point, and he’ll start hearing it from his friends.
Your brother’s in the NFL, why aren’t you driving a Benz? Why are you still wearing those old-ass sneakers? Why can’t you pick up the tab?
He’s going to respond by diving headfirst into drug dealing. And it’s not just going to be a little thing on the side anymore, Tarik. It’ll be serious dealing. Hard drugs. Real volume. Lots of money changing hands.
Mom evicted from different places because of weed smell, noise violations, police visits, you name it.
By that point, you’ll be playing a ton for the Bears and putting up numbers — rushing, receiving, returns, even throwing passes for TDs. You’ll be all over SportsCenter. People will be adding you to their fantasy teams like crazy.
But you’ll also be living in a rented apartment on the outskirts of Chicago and sending money home to Mom after the latest eviction notice, so she can rent a new house.
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Cohen blew out his knee in 2020, luckily for him after he got paid. He has no stats since then, but reportedly this week is in talks to sign on the Panthers practice squad.