Saquon Barkley bought a house for his parents before he even signed his contract with the Giants. The No. 2 pick in the draft already had plenty of money from endorsements and knew it was a matter of time before he signed a four-year, $31 million fully guaranteed contract, so he could afford to deliver on a promise he made to his parents when he was a toddler.
Advertisement
“It’s something I promised my mom and dad when I was a little kid,” Barkley said. “To be able to fulfill that promise means everything. It kind of puts everything in perspective, all the hard work you put in. It’s another step up the mountain. To be able to buy her a house is probably the best accomplishment I have so far.”
Second-round pick Will Hernandez signed a four-year, $7.5 million contract with a $3.5 million signing bonus in May. Two months later, he surprised his parents with a new house. The gift was extra meaningful since it wasn’t long ago that the family was forced to live in a relative’s storage shed due to financial hardships.
“I always wanted to make sure I took care of my parents,” Hernandez said. “That’s something very important to me. They’ve sacrificed and given me so much my entire life, I wanted to give them something back, so that was a big deal for me. I’m very happy and blessed that I was able to.”
Most players would love to buy their parents a house upon entering the league, but few land the lucrative contracts Barkley and Hernandez did initially. Still, an NFL contract represents a sum of money that most players could only dream about growing up. So, what was the first big purchase for Giants players? The Athletic polled 23 players and uncovered a variety of answers.
The long-term plan
Giants wide receiver Russell Shepard signed a three-year contract worth $1.485 million with the Eagles when he entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2013. That sounds like a lot of money, but Shepard immediately understood the transient nature of NFL contracts.
With only a $5,000 signing bonus invested in Shepard, the Eagles cut the LSU product at the end of the 2013 preseason. The Buccaneers claimed Shepard the next day and inherited his contract. Shepard carved out a role on special teams as a rookie, banking 17 checks worth approximately $24,000 apiece throughout the season. That money gave Shepard enough of a bankroll to fund Shep Boys Trucking.
Advertisement
“I started a trucking company with my parents my rookie year,” Shepard said. “My mom resigned from her job and she works for the company. My dad does the trucking company full-time. Being able to start that with my family, I think helped make me a better football player because I wasn’t so worried about football being my main source of income. I was able to just relax and go forward.”
The business, which hauls material to and from construction sites, launched in January of 2014. Shepard’s father had worked with dump trucks for 30 years in the Houston area.
“He understands the business,” Shepard said. “He just was never able to financially get his own truck. My rookie year I was able to get one. Started with that one, next year had two, next year had three. We got up to five. They’re doing really well.”
Shepard’s football career turned out to be quite profitable as well. He signed a one-year, $1.67 million contract with the Buccaneers in 2016 after his rookie deal expired. He then inked a three-year, $10 million contract with the Panthers in 2017, collecting $3.725 million before getting released in May. Shepard signed a one-year, $1.25 million contract with the Giants a week later.
Despite making over $8 million in his six-year NFL career and having the additional income from his trucking company, Shepard hasn’t made a luxury purchase for himself.
“I still don’t have a car,” Shepard said. “I bought my wife a car three years ago. I still haven’t bought myself a car. A car is a bad investment. We have two kids so I had to get her one. I can Uber or catch a ride from somebody.”
Cars
Unlike Shepard, the majority of players made a new car their first indulgence after reaching the NFL.
Linebacker Lorenzo Carter (2018 third-round pick): “I got a car (used Range Rover). It was time to upgrade from my ’98 Explorer. And then I gave my parents a vacation. I couldn’t buy them a house, so I sent my parents and my grandparents on vacation to Punta Cana. I couldn’t go. They went without me.”
Advertisement
Offensive lineman Nate Solder (2011 first-round pick): “I bought a GMC Sierra. I didn’t buy anything for like two years. I bought a house my second year because I needed a place to live. I didn’t want to make any rash decisions and blow all my money. You go from a college kid where I was making like $2,000 a month on my scholarship check and then I went to making a signing bonus of $4 million. I didn’t know what that money even meant. I had no context for it. So it took time to figure out what I could spend and what I should save.”
Defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson (2017 second-round pick): “The biggest purchase was my car (an Audi). Going to school for finance, you’re trying to learn how to keep it and maintain it for a long period of time. I started investing. I’m using my degree before football is over with.”
Center Jon Halapio (2014 sixth-round pick): “When I got drafted in 2014 it was my 2015 Suburban. I had never had a car, so that was my first big purchase. The Suburban was because I had my daughter at the time, so I had to get a family vehicle, but I didn’t want a soccer mom van.”
Safety Curtis Riley (2015 undrafted free agent): “Before I made the team I actually went and bought my first-ever car (Dodge Challenger). I just felt like I should go get that. That was a big thing. But when I get that big contract one day, I’m going to get a house.”
Cornerback B.W. Webb (2013 fourth-round pick): “I bought a Dodge Charger. That was big to me to get around. I had a Maxima before that, so it was an upgrade to me.”
Punter Riley Dixon (2016 seventh-round pick): “I don’t think I purchased anything for quite a while. Maybe my truck – I just bought a Ford Raptor this offseason after two full seasons, which is a purchase I had to make. But I’m not a big spender.”
Long snapper Zak DeOssie (2007 fourth-round pick): “It was a 2007 Ford F-150 King Ranch. I dreamt of that car forever. That was my only big purchase. Over the years I had it and then I moved into Hoboken and it wasn’t conducive to Hoboken living so I gifted it to my dad. I made a bet with my dad (former Giants linebacker Steve DeOssie) when I was like 12. He was drinking coffee and I was like, ‘I’ll never drink coffee, it’s so disgusting,’ and he said, ‘I’ll bet you’re drinking coffee by the time you’re 30.’ Sure enough, by the time I was 30 I was drinking coffee. So well before then I ended up giving him the F-150. The train horn is no longer working. I think that has seen better days. It’s on its last legs, but that thing is still rolling around Boston.”
Advertisement
Safety Darian Thompson (2016 third-round pick): “I got a (Porsche) Cayenne for my wife. That was kind of the first purchase. My wife and daughter and now I have a son on the way, so I got a little family car.”
Defensive back William Gay (2007 fifth-round pick): “I didn’t have a car all through college. That was my dream just to get a car (Dodge Charger). I didn’t know I was going to the league, so I was just like, as soon as I get a job and get some checks, I’m getting a car. I got tired of walking.”
Defensive tackle Robert Thomas (2014 undrafted free agent): “My first year here, my third year in the league, I bought a King Ranch truck. That was my only big purchase and I still have that. That was my only purchase. I waited.”
Wide receiver Roger Lewis (2016 undrafted free agent): “At the end of the day, I’m an undrafted guy, but I saved up some of my money and I got my mom a car (Jaguar F-Pace Sport). That was a pretty big accomplishment. I always wanted to get my mom a car. Hopefully next contract or this year, I’ll get her a house or something like that.”
Wide receiver Hunter Sharp (2016 undrafted free agent): “My biggest purchase was probably my car (2008 Chevy Trailblazer). It was $10K cash. I got it from my brother who works on Chevys. It’s a car I had wanted since high school. He always had it and he told me he’d sell it to me. I got an injury settlement and I went home and I bought my car. I still have it. She’s not looking too good right now, so she’s ready to be restored.”
Vacations
Wide receiver Kalif Raymond, who signed with the Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2016, is one of 11 children, ranging in ages from 11 to 28. Taking all of his siblings on trips isn’t cheap, but Raymond is happy to share with his family.
“I took a few trips – a couple of cruises for my family,” Raymond said. “For me, life is about experiences. I get to experience New York. I’ve experienced Denver. I want that for my family as well. This offseason I took all my sisters down to Florida and I took all my brothers up to New York. They had never been out of the state of Georgia. So I wanted everybody to get these experiences. There’s a lot of life out here to live. I’m here so that we can have these experiences, so let’s go enjoy them. I want my family to see as much of the world as they can. If I’m in a position where I can see it, it’s not the same unless they’re there.”
Cornerback Leonard Johnson (2012 undrafted free agent): “I lived at home literally for three years. It took me a while to buy something because I was undrafted and seeing how many guys were coming and going, I never felt secure. I never felt like I could buy anything. I think the first real purchase was a vacation going into my third year. This girl I was in love with was from the Bahamas, I’m from Florida and I bought a ticket to go back home with her. I think I might have spent $7,000 on that trip. But even then her mom and everybody – I had never heard the word frugal before and that’s all they kept saying when I was there: ‘He’s so frugal.’ I was just like, ‘Is that a good thing or a bad thing?’ But I was scared to ask because I hadn’t heard that term. I was there for three months – the whole offseason. I was just nickel-and-diming, scared to (spend).”
Wide receiver Cody Latimer (2014 second-round pick): “It was more doing some traveling. I did cruises and things like that. I had always been in Ohio, so it was good to get away.”
This and that
Linebacker Avery Moss combined his passion for junk food with his newfound wealth after he was selected by the Giants in the fifth round of the 2017 draft.
“It wasn’t a big purchase, but the first thing I actually did was buy 100 bags of Hot Cheetos,” said Moss, who received a $254,770 signing bonus. “I’m a chip fanatic. There were all these times in college where I wanted to just stock the fridge or stock the cabinets with Hot Cheetos and I was like, ‘I can do that right now.’ I went on Amazon. I kept looking up all the different things I could get and I finally found 100-pack bundle and I was like, ‘I’ve got to get it.’ ”
Advertisement
Linebacker Calvin Munson (2017 undrafted free agent): “I tried to save everything. I shipped my car here and that was like two grand, so that was a big purchase. Something I treated myself well to this offseason was a nice set of golf clubs. So I did that and I kind of went all-in for that. That was definitely worth it. That was a big purchase for me. Fitted, nice little Titleist set. It didn’t really help me that much, but I look good out there with the clubs.”
Safety Michael Thomas (2012 undrafted free agent): “No big purchases. I paid for a wedding right after I got picked up. It took me six years playing in the league – this is going on Year 7 – before I was finally able to buy my parents a house. It was a very different experience than first-round draft picks, but the feeling is still the same. This was a dream that all of us had since we were younger: When I get older, especially if I can make it to the league, I want to be able to take care of my parents and buy them a house first thing. I know my parents appreciated it. It felt good for me, it felt good for my siblings. Now when I go back to Houston, we have a nice home to go to and visit. It’s a great feeling.”
Fullback Shane Smith (2017 undrafted free agent): “My first big purchase was in the offseason when I bought my now-fiancée an engagement ring. I think that’s about it. I’ve been saving my money.”
Cornerback Chris Lewis-Harris (2012 undrafted free agent): “I haven’t made any big purchases. I never had a signing bonus or anything like that, so I’m just stacking everything. Hopefully, I get my name out there, make some plays and I can get to that. It’s never too late.”
Running back Robert Martin (2018 undrafted free agent): “All I’ve been buying is Uber Eats here and there, even when we were out in Detroit. I haven’t really bought anything for real. Then I’ll go to Paula’s Soul Food in Hackensack with a couple of the teammates. We always go out there every week to eat. That’s all I’ve been buying: Gas, food and haircuts. That’s it. We don’t have anything else to do but play football. They’re feeding us. We can’t go anywhere. We can’t get dressed and go out. I don’t even like going out. In my free time, I like staying in the room anyway and just relaxing, taking naps and playing the game. I take advantage of all my free time.”
(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
