Leaving early
- Thread starter BiggsCoug
- Start date
Killed them with boredom ....
I typically agree with you regarding that site and have posted that here. However I took the bait and read the interview and it actually was not all that bad towards Leach, and actually a positive comment on how his offense will be good for RB's going to the NFL. Dick and Leach will never agree on this subject and I still think Dick was a bad influence on the player. But given they will never agree Dick at least toned down the rhetoric significantly, which yet again is a great example of how bad twitter is for communication.
Total amount money made by
Hercules - 367k -
Minus 10% to agent - 36,000
minus 108 to taxes - 108,000
Minus 9.85% on the Minnesota jock tax another 36k
Oh did they not tell them about those fees? Maybe if they STAYED IN F*CKING SCHOOL they would know about it.
So about 156k now.... and he was injured. Gotta pay rent while in Minnesota.
Average rent in Minneapolis is 1400 per month. Don’t know what kind of place he is in so that’s at least another 16k
So now we are down to 140.
Car? Let’s say you lease a Toyota Camry 350 per month plus insurance so let’s say 450.
Another 5,400 gone now you are at 135k.
Haven’t eaten, haven’t gone out for fun. Have no furniture for your place.
But let’s say he roughs it.
135k that’s what he can hope for if he was average frugal (most people in their 20s are not)
Travis long finished his degree and earned 600k and as I showed you he pretty much would have about 1/3 of that.... so 200k and he gotta move or stay in philly after he was done in 2015... 3 years ago.
For James he can go back to school but he will pay out of state tuition so that’s 25k to finish at WSU. And he would have to pay his apartment and food costs. Did someone explain that to him?
“According to a 2009 Sports Illustrated article, 78% of National Football League (NFL) players are either bankrupt or are under financial stress within two years of retirement“
Oh he think he’s going to be part of that 22% that isn’t without a college degree and kids to take care of.... hahahahahaha.
The reality is having a degree gives you the security to make a living continually.
Xavier Cooper made about 2.143 Million over 4 years. and he was drafted. Didn’t take out his taxes but if we use the 1/3 rule.
That’s about 642k from 4 years or... about 160k / year. And he actually had to move 3 times (San Francisco, Jersey, Cleveland to start) over that span so who knows how much money he has left.
I would wager 500k if he was smart, but he’s not smart... he left school early. So who knows.
Marquitter Wilson did the best making 3.4 million total so he actually did make it to a million dollars with the 1/3 rule but again who knows how much is left. He’s now signed to the BC lions and has had to move from Chicago to Jersey and Vancouver.
So again we don’t know how much money he has left, but his NFL career is over now and his money options are drying up and he’s just 26 years old.
The reality is that it is stupid to give up a free education to chase the NFL. It’s irresponsible.
What I would tell them is to do the following:
- Graduate
- Get a roll the NFL dice.
- if you get in great. Take your salary and get a cheap studio apartment and buy a reliable car like a Lexus that has good resell value.
- Enroll in an online graduate school program they don’t take long some take GRE/GMAT waivers. Most programs are like 18 months so about 2 years.
Now I’ll give you a scenario with Travis Long. Had Travis Long did that the second he hangs up his cleats he would have his MBA.
Average salary is 100k - and that’s to start.
And that’s the difference between going to the NFL without a college degree and graduating and continuing your education.
If you graduate at 22 and play for just 2 years at 24 you would have your MBA and ZERO debt.
Or you can leave early at 21 have maybe at most 200k in cash if you are lucky (if they are cheap and fiscally sound which most are not) and no consistent work prospects.
It is criminal to advise kids to leave a free education early to put them in a fiscal trap dead end.
Now do your taxes/rent/car/food/furniture math exercise on that 100k.
Not necessarily disagreeing, but you can’t leave out half the equation to make your point.
You can’t leave out one fact: every one of the guys you used as an example is financially ahead of where virtually any college graduate would be at the same point. So Hercules “only” made $135K? Long “only” had $200K? Most graduates are lucky to hit $50K.
I agree in the long run, it’s usually better to have the degree. But a couple years in the league can provide a nice springboard into life, if it’s properly managed.
Yeah but the difference is if you get cut you get unemployment until you find a new team you can get vested stock ownership, matching 401k while there, you also can move up in salary with experience.
You don’t get that with the NFL you get shown the door or traded or replaced or waived.
You can consistently get better and better jobs with experience.
Springboard to what? They don’t have a degree. Springboard to what?
They are already ahead of every kid by having no student debt. That’s what they don’t get. They aren’t fully realizing that advantage and essentially throwing it away for the short term.
Life isn’t just your early 20s
What is James Williams gonna do in 18 years. That’s when his kid is trying to go to college. How has he paid for 18 years of food, mortgage/rent, car, electricity, insurance. Phone, internet, clothes.
As I said before it is criminally irresponsible to tell these kids to leave early.
The NFL should be college graduates only.
a lot of these kids went to college just to get their crack at the NFL...there are many that just aren't going to be CPA's or MBA's or doctors and lawyers and stockbrokers and such, either because they don't want to, or can't. So for some, they get 3 years of free room and board and an opportunity to see if they have what it takes to get in the big leagues.
I understand that, but college is college. It’s there to prepare you for employment and trade.
It’s just ridiculous to waste that opportunity when your living is covered to go chase uncertain contract employment.
A college degree will help you a lot more in life than the NFL will for most players.
Wow a job which is going extinct
https://allthatsinteresting.com/no-more-car-dealerships
In fact why on earth would someone finance through a dealership today when they can do a credit union?
https://www.gobankingrates.com/loans/auto/10-best-credit-unions-car-loans/
Typically, the annual percentage rate (APR) for auto loans ranges from 3% to 10%. At the dealership...
So why would people do it at the dealership?
Why go into
a) a line of work that is going extinct
b) a line of work that offers rip off rates that can’t compete with decent ones if people do a little research.
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Too funny . Until they go extinct, why not make 250 a year for the next five years . Have someone invest the 80k you net a year and let that money grow. And after five years become a gm for the dealership.
As for getting ripped off. Sure. And once the credit unions and banks get rid of the smaller players what do you think happens ?
Just as the banks are trying today to squeeze out the small and medium lenders out of the market so they can control the market . Why do you think the banks on the mortgage side never batted an eye on Dodd Frank?
Plenty of jobs put there for people who aren't college graduates. I hear garbage men make a good living, it's honest work, and comes with good benefits. Police work also comes to mind.
Sales jobs are going the way of the buffalo. The impact of technology on these fields is will be utterly devastating to those without a plan B. Now is not a time where I would want to be building a career in anything a computer can do efficiently.
In our lifetimes, not having a college degree will be seen in the same light as not having a high school diploma. It's going to straight eliminate people from consideration from jobs they are otherwise qualified to do. How someone could try to talk a kid so close to finishing his degree, with known academic struggles, and a great network of support around him, into chasing his NFL dream is beyond me. Shame on him.
It would be like encouraging a fringe baseball prospect into dropping out of high school to be a late round MLB draft pick.
Sales jobs are going the way of the buffalo. The impact of technology on these fields is will be utterly devastating to those without a plan B. Now is not a time where I would want to be building a career in anything a computer can do efficiently.
In our lifetimes, not having a college degree will be seen in the same light as not having a high school diploma. It's going to straight eliminate people from consideration from jobs they are otherwise qualified to do. How someone could try to talk a kid so close to finishing his degree, with known academic struggles, and a great network of support around him, into chasing his NFL dream is beyond me. Shame on him.
It would be like encouraging a fringe baseball prospect into dropping out of high school to be a late round MLB draft pick.
If they had $135-200K - after expenses, according to your estimates - and haven’t pissed it away...they can easily finish their degree in a pretty stress-free manner, and still have no debt and a bit of a nest egg.
There’s more than one way to get ahead. The safe bet for most is to stay in school, but if they’ve got enough talent to even make a practice squad for a couple years, and the brains to manage their money, it makes financial sense to do it.
“Now is not a time where I would want to be building a career in anything a computer can do efficiently.”... I am not sure that isn’t 1/2 of the jobs out there .
Like I said it would have been ideal to finish now. But colleges will always take care of those athletes who leave early.
possibly, or possibly not. who knows?
Truth is, Boobie has the wrong logo on his helmet for him to get drafted at all. His combine wasn't great, and who knows how he interviewed.
We all love him, but maybe he needed this humble pie to get him where he needs/ wants to be? There are plenty of UDFAs who make teams, and this whole thing of lashing out because things didn't go the way you expected is really unfortunate.
Not so fast, my friend.
True, manufacturers are going the way of distribution for commodity items, as they can eek out a few more profitability points, but there will always be sales jobs for items that are technical or require some sort of expertise to sell. While many consumers are better educated, many also rely on the technical knowledge of the salesman to guide them.
Often people only listen to what they want to hear.
Bothers me Williams is retweeting this crap after Leach & Co. were the ones who stuck by him after his HS knee injury. I guess Dickerson missed that as well.
If I recall, the NFL has a limit to how many weeks a player can be on the practice squad. Which is why you see guys run up a big list of teams. Theyre always being released and picked up every couple of weeks. Sometimes with no weeks of work.
The practice squad is not what you want if you have eligibility left. Its money but it isnt certain money and it is only gonna last maybe a year.
NFL players and the majority of professional athletes problem isn't making ends meat while playing, it's making it when their days are over. Average NFL player's career is a little over 3 years. By the time these guys are 26 years old their NFL careers are over and they have to figure out what they're gonna do with the rest of their lives. They might have made a couple of million in a few years, but many of them have zero cash when they are done. That's when a degree comes in handy.
Boobie said he's committed to get his degree and I believe he is. But we've all seen the student who's just taking a semester "off" and never returns.
Boobie said he's committed to get his degree and I believe he is. But we've all seen the student who's just taking a semester "off" and never returns.
It was a roll of the dice. If he makes the team, great news. If he is out of football, maybe he shouldnt have listened to ED???
Trading a senior year of ball for no ball at all is dumb. Trading a senior year of ball for the NFL is a good move. Too much risk imo.
They’re limited to 3 years on a practice squad, but each team is only allowed 4 players (out of 10) who have 2+ years on one. There’s also limits based on time on the active roster and gameday roster.
So it’s theoretically possible that a player could pull down just shy of $400K for those 3 years, which is better than 99% of new grads will do.
Honestly, if you tell me today that I can have a guaranteed $50K/year vs. $7,600/week for up to 3 years...I’m going to think about it. If I can hang for 7 weeks, I’m ahead for year 1
And when your time is up how much do you make?
If he was an undrafted FA this year, he couldve been the same next year too.
He isnt alone. There were a lot of guys that left school early and didnt get drafted. Dont trade something for nothing is all Im saying.
I get that you think that every player should get their degree unless they are 100% guaranteed to be drafted.......but it really isn't as easy as that. Kansas State's leading rusher (who also led the Big 12) left early and one of the reasons that was implied was that he was concerned that he would be worked so hard that it would potentially affect his NFL shelf life. He didn't have anything to accomplish by coming back. Unfortunately, he didn't get drafted. He did sign a UDFA though. I think every player should take the decision seriously and go back to school if they don't have compelling reasons to leave, but I think it's unreasonable for someone who isn't in the player's shoes to emphatically state what they should or shouldn't do.
I do agree with your point that guys like Bobo who gave up their senior year for nothing really should have gotten better advice before they left if they valued playing football over being out in the real world trying to get a job with their degree.
There is one piece of the decision making process you are leaving out and it is a factor. I can’t day it is the biggest factor but a factor none the less. He has a child on the way . A players tuition room and board was never designed to have more than one person live off that scholie money . A matter of fact not sure if a player can live off that amount.
And if he gets cut in August, what's he gonna do? He has no scholarship, no degree, no weight program. He's gonna be on his own trying to stay in shape and hoping he gets a call during the season or working towards one more chance the next year. What's he going to do for money in the mean time? You're talking like he's guaranteed a roster spot. He went undrafted. He has a giant uphill climb. Granted, about 20% of UDFA make a team. He's making this move to try to take care of his family. If he's out of the league in two years, what's his plan?
I get it his reasoning. I get he feels he won't get much better next year. There's no guarantee he doesn't get hurt next year and never gets a chance like this. I understand that. But let's not act like he's sure thing to make the NFL.
He gets s job . He does what I believe Mkristo Bruce did trying to balance a family , workouts and a job . Something he can’t do until December. I think it is far from a guarantee. Right now for me it is pure hope he makes it.
I do know his stipend doesn’t cover the monthly but he has to pay .
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MK graduated. MK had a kid his senior year of college. MK made it work somehow. Chased a football dream for a few years. Nothing really came about it. A little cup of coffee in the NFL, but nothing exciting. He was done playing football 3 years after college. Now MK is doing very well for himself. But in the end MK graduated.
I understand his reasoning too. His stats and season would prob look the same. One difference... A back like that makes his living in the passing game and special teams. If he isnt good enough to be a feature back at WSU he prob isnt gonna be a feature back in the NFL. If he was a UFA this year he prob wasnt gonna be a 3rd rounder next year.
He comes back as a senior to get better at blocking in the passing game, which makes his stock higher and gets him on the field faster in the NFL and he also needs to have special teams film. He needs to be as polished a player as possible. He is not. Now he rolls the dice.
I think you are making my point. I would love for Williams to get his degree. Say Williams gets cut in August . He will have the same opportunity Bruce had after Bruce got his degree.
I will never forget something Mike Utley once said . He was interviewed during his senior season and said if it wasn’t for football he wouldn’t go to school, and that he would be a carpenter like his father. It goes to show that in life stuff happens . To this day I don’t know if Utley had or has a degree to fall back on .
Williams has a family to think about . He is doing what he feels he has to take care of them in the short term .
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The more I look at it, the more I really fall on Williams' side on this one.
I agree with his statement that he wasn't likely to significantly improve his draft stock by coming back. Maybe he becomes a little better blocker, but he's not going to suddenly become a feature back and rush for 1,500 yards. Playing his senior year maybe gets him into the 6th round. That could be impacted next season by how many NFL vacancies are created and how many of next year's players come out, but it seems more likely he'd fall than rise. And, the likelihood of making a team isn't that much better for a 6th/7th round pick than it is for a UDFA.
So, the biggest benefit of staying is probably to finish his degree...which he can do without staying with the team. I'm not sure how close to finishing he is, but since he's been on campus for 4 years, I'd assume he's close. According to the media guide, his major is humanities. It doesn't indicate his concentration area, but I think it's safe to say that even with his degree he's not going to make a pile of money in his first job. Think teaching salary, not engineering salary - $40K, not 80.
His fiancee (wife?) already has a job and a salary, and I understand he's been living with her while he's in school and playing. Probably living pretty frugally with two adults and a child on one teaching salary. A second child would probably force some tough budget decisions. Except...he has this opportunity to make some significant extra cash. Should he stick around and play for another season - with the incumbent risk of injury, and no significant increase in the potential reward - cutting corners and just barely getting by for a year? Or, should he gamble right now?
If the gamble doesn't pay off...they still have her salary, and are not really any worse off. If it pays off a little, he makes $40K in 6-7 weeks, his career ends, and their condition is - at least temporarily - slightly improved. If it pays off a lot, he makes $400K on a rookie contract in the next year, and they're in a much better position.
For his situation, it seems like he probably made the right choice. There's no significant benefit to staying. Leaving carries some risk, but if it doesn't work out, his situation isn't really worse than it already would be. The potential upside is big, even if it's a longshot.
His degree situation is somewhat of a factor, but it's pretty likely that he's close to finishing, and it's not very likely that his degree choice leads to a high paying job. So again...the potential upside of leaving seems to outweigh the benefit of staying. Even more so if he's less than a semester (or summer) from finishing his degree.
I agree with his statement that he wasn't likely to significantly improve his draft stock by coming back. Maybe he becomes a little better blocker, but he's not going to suddenly become a feature back and rush for 1,500 yards. Playing his senior year maybe gets him into the 6th round. That could be impacted next season by how many NFL vacancies are created and how many of next year's players come out, but it seems more likely he'd fall than rise. And, the likelihood of making a team isn't that much better for a 6th/7th round pick than it is for a UDFA.
So, the biggest benefit of staying is probably to finish his degree...which he can do without staying with the team. I'm not sure how close to finishing he is, but since he's been on campus for 4 years, I'd assume he's close. According to the media guide, his major is humanities. It doesn't indicate his concentration area, but I think it's safe to say that even with his degree he's not going to make a pile of money in his first job. Think teaching salary, not engineering salary - $40K, not 80.
His fiancee (wife?) already has a job and a salary, and I understand he's been living with her while he's in school and playing. Probably living pretty frugally with two adults and a child on one teaching salary. A second child would probably force some tough budget decisions. Except...he has this opportunity to make some significant extra cash. Should he stick around and play for another season - with the incumbent risk of injury, and no significant increase in the potential reward - cutting corners and just barely getting by for a year? Or, should he gamble right now?
If the gamble doesn't pay off...they still have her salary, and are not really any worse off. If it pays off a little, he makes $40K in 6-7 weeks, his career ends, and their condition is - at least temporarily - slightly improved. If it pays off a lot, he makes $400K on a rookie contract in the next year, and they're in a much better position.
For his situation, it seems like he probably made the right choice. There's no significant benefit to staying. Leaving carries some risk, but if it doesn't work out, his situation isn't really worse than it already would be. The potential upside is big, even if it's a longshot.
His degree situation is somewhat of a factor, but it's pretty likely that he's close to finishing, and it's not very likely that his degree choice leads to a high paying job. So again...the potential upside of leaving seems to outweigh the benefit of staying. Even more so if he's less than a semester (or summer) from finishing his degree.
Take a listen, this pertains to the twitterstorm more than his reasons for leaving. There are some hurt feelings here.
https://www.spokesman.com/video/2019/apr/29/james-williams-sounds-rift-mike-leach/
From another post it sounds like Williams is a semester and maybe some summer classes away from his degree.
I get where's he's coming from. Glad he's committed to getting his degree. I just want him to be successful because dude is awesome and deserves it. Also, I think he needs to change the batteries in his smoke detector.
The only reason probably 1/3 of them go to school is to get to the league, or the hope to get to the league. For that 1/3 it is a Vo-tech. No more or less.
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