Why Ali Marpet was happy to walk away from $20m and the NFL at 28
So random thing from the article I found interesting (when he was talking about why he started playing ukelele):
He added yet another hat [ukelele] after his rookie season. A teammate told him he’d have more free time in his life than he’s ever had in the offseason after his rookie year. “I didn’t believe it until I was in it. It was like: ‘Oh my god, there really is a lot of free time.’ You can only work out for so many hours in the day, so what else are you gonna do?”
Might explain why some players go off the rails with the drugs/booze/arrests in the off-season. No structure (other than a workout) and then 12 hours of free time every goddamn day, with millions of dollars burning holes in their pockets…
And everything I’ve ever seen former players say about cfb is that their entire life is micro managed for 3-4 years, can definitely see where rich + freedom could mess with people after that
Made his money, won a Super Bowl, got a pro bowl nod. Respect to him for walking away on his terms.
Truth. Could have been much worse. He could have been injured so bad it would make his life after the NFL incredibly difficult
tldr: made 37 million dollars and is well-balanced enough to weigh the health risks against not needing any more money. fair enough and more power to him.
Yeah it's pretty unanimous with Bucs fans with how happy that he got his money, his ring, and his health. We're all just really fucking stoked he played for us.
Because he made $40m and would rather walk away than hobble away. Who can blame him?
Exactly. Even if 50% is gone due to taxes, agents fees, etc. He's earned about $18 million. If he was conservative in his spending and only took a 4% draw on it to ensure it was growing (tough in the current inflationary environment) that is $720,000 in annual income to live off of. I'm sure I could manage that.
That doesn't even include that he could do something else.
Players have a hard time walking away because they've dedicated their entire life to it. A typical player probably spent 10-12 hours a day since the age of 13 in practice, training, and in film study.
Especially after Tarik Cohen pretty much had that decision made for him the hard way just yesterday, livestreamed on the internet.
Good dude and I have to believe that severe concussion helped “clarify” his priorities. I’ve had minor ones where I felt no effects within a day or two. To not have symptoms go away for weeks must be deeply unsettling.
Ali even reached out to his drafted “replacement” and spent over an hour talking with him. He will be missed on and off the field, but it’s really easy to see his perspective and respect his decision.
Same thing with john Urschel. Intelligent dude who prided himself on his mathematical skills. He was still going full time at MIT and having a concussion led him to re-evaluate if football was the route he wanted to go.
One thing I remember was him testing his math skills while in concussion protocol and I think his decision was made then and there.
It's crazy how people lack the ability to put themselves in another person's shoes to the extent that articles like this need to be published.
Most people, including the players themselves, are totally fine with the fact that the league takes young men and chews them up until no team is willing to pay that player. That is the norm. When a player walks away from money, walks away from the "privilege" of playing in the NFL (what a joke), people are flabbergasted.
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