A Super Bowl winner has revealed the breathtaking costs of an NFL team meal.
Winning the Super Bowl is perhaps the biggest achievement in all of American sports, with the lucky few to achieve it writing their names into NFL history.
After a hard-fought 2025 season, this year's match will be contested by Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs in at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Ahead of such a big match, the players on both teams will likely come together to enjoy a team meal together, but how much does the bill of a typical NFL team meal come to?
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Back in 2014, the Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson offered fans an insight into exactly what this kind of an evening would cost after posting a receipt of a 'rookie dinner' on social media.
According to the New York Times, the ‘rookie dinner’ is a longstanding tradition in the NFL that sees a team's new players or ‘rookies’ cover the costs of a meal for their fellow teammates.
On this occasion, it was Johnson that had to pick up the bill for the meal at Del Frisco’s steakhouse after being selected a first-round draft pick in 2014.
The total bill came to a jaw-dropping $17,747.86, which included $1,535.51 in tax and $472.20 in gratuity, but Johnson later claimed that was the 'auto gratuity' and that he, in fact, "tipped about $3k".
But when he looks back on the dinner, it's likely that Johnson will have no regrets given that just three years later he and his Eagles teammate claimed glory in the 2017 Super Bowl.
In December 2019, then-rookie linebacker D’Andre Walker also posted a photo on social media of the bill he had to pay as a rookie, as his Tennessee Titans teammates racked up an eye-watering bill of $10,487.27, and that was without the tip.
While former Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder dubbed the act as simply “part of the game,” others have made it clear that they are not a fan of the tradition.
"This dinner sets a precedent for a lifestyle that the majority of players cannot afford to do and shouldn't be living anyway," former NFL star Torrey Smith told The New York Times in 2022.
Taking to X in June 2022, Smith added: "Rookie dinners are BS!
"I’m glad I had an OG that realized teaching me to blow money is STUPID! It does not prove you belong on a team.
"Dudes come into the league with no financial literacy and real problems but folks think 50k dinners are cool! NAH!"
Topics: NFL, Super Bowl, American Football
Ben McCrum