Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: NFL, American Football
Luke Davies
A Super Bowl champion revealed exactly how much a ‘rookie meal’ can cost NFL players.
Most footballers are well paid, and rightfully so, given the risks associated with the sport,
And reports from AS suggest that the average player’s wage is around $2.8m per year – although this may vary based on several factors, including age and the position they play.
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Dallas Cowboys quarterback, Dak Prescott was the league’s highest earner, in 2014 according to NFL.
He earned a staggering wage of $60m for the year, an amount which made him the league’s all-time highest-paid player.
Of course, for most people, earning $60m is unthinkable, but so is shelling out a huge amount of cash in a restaurant, and that’s exactly what happens at the ‘rookie meal’ which is a long-standing tradition in the sport.
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According to the New York Times, the new players are expected to cover the costs of a meal for their teammates.
Back in 2014, Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson revealed the exact figure he paid for a meal by posting the bill on X – which you can view below.
The bill amounted to $17,747.86, which was made up of $1,535.51 in tax and $472.20 in gratuity to add to the cost of the food and drink.
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And Johnson, 34, who picked up the bill at Del Frisco’s steakhouse, having been a first-round draft pick, even claimed that he parted ways with a further $3,000 when he tipped staff.
Although the tradition is viewed as a rite of passage by many, not everyone is so keen, including former NFL star Torrey Smith.
"This dinner sets a precedent for a lifestyle that the majority of players cannot afford to do and shouldn't be living anyway," Smith said when speaking to The New York Times in 2022.
He cited the fact that some players have no “financial literacy” as part of the reason for his dislike towards the tradition.
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"Rookie dinners are BS!" Smith wrote on X in June 2022.
"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!”