The 2021 NFL MVP recently signed a four-year contract extension worth a reported $200 million.
Professional athletes being bad with the enormous sums of money they earn is a well-accepted trope.
The rise in the popularity of televised sports over the past three decade has resulted in an entire generation of young athletes who have earned generational wealth many times over by the time they turn 30.
Many athletes come from impoverished situations and by the time they make it to the position where they can take care of everyone around them the pitfalls for their financial ruin are already in place.
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Add in the hangers on and the expectations of a lavish lifestyle from the public, and the recipe for financial ruin is prepped.
This phenomenon was captured perfectly in ESPN’s 2012 “30 for 30” documentary “Broke.”
According to the film, 78% of NFL players went bankrupt within two years of retiring. Within five year of retirement, an estimated 60% of NBA are broke, according to the film.
Aaron Rodgers is looking to change the narrative that professional sports athletes making tens of millions of dollars a year are financially irresponsible and provide mentorship to young athletes coming into their physical and financial primes.
Rodgers the Million Dollar Mentor
Over the weekend, Rodgers gave an interview to OSDB Sports about the investment and financial advice he gives to younger players coming into the NFL.
Rodgers, who is entering his 18th season as the Green Bay Packers quarter, recently signed a reported 4-year, $200 million extension with the team that guarantees him $153 million over the life of the deal.
Between his base salary, signing bonuses and other incentives, Rodgers has earned more than $260 million during his career, according to Spotrac.com.
“The acquisition of knowledge gives you the power and confidence to take ownership of your business and your brand. The biggest thing is to take ownership in everything you are doing,” Rodgers said.
“That’s what I try to tell young guys. Get in the weeds of what your investments are doing and be on a first name basis with your accountant, lawyer, business manager and investment fund manager. Otherwise, you are going to get lost in the shuffle.”
In 2019, Rodgers raised $50 million for Rx3 Ventures, a consumer fund backed by Roth Capital Partners Nate Raabe and Byron Roth.
The fund’s mission is to invest in “culturally relevant trends across the consumer industry,” by partnering with management teams to drive brand awareness.
The fund’s clients include Manscaped, Therabody and Corepower Yoga among others.
Rodgers Wants Players to Take Ownership
Being a professional athlete is a full-time job, leaving players to cede control of their investments to someone they trust. And sometimes the personal they leave their money and business to isn’t trustworthy.
“So many guys trust that (ownership of your personal brand and business) to a family member or a confidant and they get, like me, six or seven years in the league and have no idea what their money is doing, no idea what their investments are doing,” Rodgers said.
“You’ll miss out on a lot of opportunities that way. I try to pass along my knowledge to the young guys to get in the weeds, take ownership of your business and look for those really good opportunities.”
