Player Quits NFL to Farm

[irishff1014]

Why a star football player traded NFL career for a tractor - CBS News

This a great story. Talk about unselfish. There is still good news out there.

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

Great story. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Bishop2b5]

Very cool story. Yep, there are still some good people and good stories out there.

 

[gkIrish]

I want to bite my tongue but....couldn't he have stayed in the NFL, made millions, and donated a whole lot more to the food pantries? All while leaving the option to be a farmer after his NFL career is over?

 

[greyhammer90]

Seems like a neat guy but the last five sentences of the story made me throw up in my mouth.

 

[greyhammer90]

I want to bite my tongue but....couldn't he have stayed in the NFL, made millions, and donated a whole lot more to the food pantries? All while leaving the option to be a farmer after his NFL career is over?

I considered pointing this out but didn't want to be that guy.


Thanks for taking this one.

 

[IrishLion]

I want to bite my tongue but....couldn't he have stayed in the NFL, made millions, and donated a whole lot more to the food pantries? All while leaving the option to be a farmer after his NFL career is over?

I didn't get the feeling that he gave up football ONLY to give food away through farming.

I took it that he gave up football to do something more fulfilling in terms of what God would want. Giving the first crop away every years seemed like a bonus in the whole deal.

 

[dshans]

Sweet potato pie!

Sweet Jesus!

Sweet City Woman. The Stampeders - Sweet City Woman - YouTube

Sweetness!

Mix 'n' Mash. dee dee sharp - mashed potato time - YouTube

"I yam what I yam."

Plant potatoes, not faces.

 

[BGIF]

I want to bite my tongue but....couldn't he have stayed in the NFL, made millions, and donated a whole lot more to the food pantries? All while leaving the option to be a farmer after his NFL career is over?

No, he could not have stayed in the NFL, made millions, and donated a whole lot more to the food pantries. The writer neglects to mention that although Brown did sign a $37 million, 5 year contract he was released after the 3rd year of that contract. That contract guaranteed him $20 million which would approximate about 3 seasons. He had discussions/tryouts with a few other teams but never played again.

It's laudable that after his NFL career ended he didn't become the stereotype ex-jock drunk. But then again this wasn't a Pat Tillman walk away from your career to serve your country either. Brown was let go and couldn't find work in his chosen field.

Fortunately he had a North Carolina degree which enabled him to watch YouTube videos on farming.

It would be callous to think that being a gentleman farmer on 5 acres with his $20+ million was a tax maneuver.

 

[RDU Irish]

So net about $10 million after taxes. Not bad. 1000 acre farm plus machinery would eat up a lot of that dough. Kudos to this guy's financial advisors for putting him in a position to be a debt free farmer, likely with investment income from remaining investments sufficient to provide a comfortable life in rural North Carolina.

1000 acres is a legit tract of land. Hard to get into the farming biz b/c the amount of land needed to scale up your operation is a pretty big hurdle.

However, this is complete drive-by journalism at its best. I would like to think he is running a profitable operation and donating initial fruits of his labor. Being debt free would certainly make that feasible. Most farmers live poor and die rich. Can't say I know any that started with $10 million in the bank to start from scratch.

 

[connect the dots]

No, he could not have stayed in the NFL, made millions, and donated a whole lot more to the food pantries. The writer neglects to mention that although Brown did sign a $37 million, 5 year contract he was released after the 3rd year of that contract. That contract guaranteed him $20 million which would approximate about 3 seasons. He had discussions/tryouts with a few other teams but never played again.

It's laudable that after his NFL career ended he didn't become the stereotype ex-jock drunk. But then again this wasn't a Pat Tillman walk away from your career to serve your country either. Brown was let go and couldn't find work in his chosen field.

Fortunately he had a North Carolina degree which enabled him to watch YouTube videos on farming.

It would be callous to think that being a gentleman farmer on 5 acres with his $20+ million was a tax maneuver.

Your commentary on the Brown story reminds me a line from one of Aesop's fables - Those grapes are probably sour anyway. Why the sour grapes and sarcasm over a simple feel good story?

 

[RDU Irish]

BGIF is saying he didn't quit. He was cut and didn't couldn't get picked up elsewhere. Saying he quit is either lazy journalism or an outright lie.

I give the kid credit for finding a post-football calling. I find the "journalist" to be a hack for making it out as if he is listening to burning bushes or something. TMZ has more integrity than that.

 

[greyhammer90]

BGIF is saying he didn't quit. He was cut and didn't couldn't get picked up elsewhere. Saying he quit is either lazy journalism or an outright lie.

I give the kid credit for finding a post-football calling. I find the "journalist" to be a hack for making it out as if he is listening to burning bushes or something. TMZ has more integrity than that.

The journalist just wants to cuddle him.

 

[Bishop2b5]

I went to high school with a guy who ended up as an All-SEC OL. After college, he said he really wasn't interested in the NFL and just wanted to marry his hs sweetheart, go home and take over the family dairy farm, and start a family. The Cowboys drafted him anyway and he started as a rookie and did well, but still walked away from it all after a year to do what he really wanted to do.

I've run into him occasionally over the years. He & his hs girlfriend are still happily married and enjoying their grandchildren, the dairy farm's a success, and they seem very happy. I can't imagine turning down NFL riches, but I guess it's not worth it if your heart's not in it.

 

[connect the dots]

I went to high school with a guy who ended up as an All-SEC OL. After college, he said he really wasn't interested in the NFL and just wanted to marry his hs sweetheart, go home and take over the family dairy farm, and start a family. The Cowboys drafted him anyway and he started as a rookie and did well, but still walked away from it all after a year to do what he really wanted to do.

I've run into him occasionally over the years. He & his hs girlfriend are still happily married and enjoying their grandchildren, the dairy farm's a success, and they seem very happy. I can't imagine turning down NFL riches, but I guess it's not worth it if your heart's not in it.

The common perception that professional athletes are rich, is for the most part wrong. Many NFL players in the sixties, seventies, and going into the eighties, did not make that much. A few make an extraordinary amount of money, but there were significant disparities in salaries for the vast majority of players. With the average NFL career lasting 3.5 years, that pot of gold could use a discreet manager.

 

[RyCo1983]

So...I looked deeper into this after reading this thread. He got cut before the 2012 season and hasn't been on a team since. Saying he "quit" football to farm is bogus.

 

[irishff1014]

I agree that portraying he quit and be cut is totally different . But it is still cool to think he is still trying to help the food pantry.

 

[RyCo1983]

I agree that portraying he quit and be cut is totally different . But it is still cool to think he is still trying to help the food pantry.

That goes without saying.

Pretty pathetic that the writer of the article filled it with so much extra fluff though.

 

[stlnd01]

That goes without saying.

Pretty pathetic that the writer of the article filled it with so much extra fluff though.

That was a fairly pathetic piece of journalism. No reflection on Mr. Brown, who probably didn't go seeking that story out and seems to be trying to do good in the world. But - cut or not - if you could walk away from the NFL with $20 million and your health, why the hell wouldn't you?

 

[IrishinSyria]

The common perception that professional athletes are rich, is for the most part wrong. Many NFL players in the sixties, seventies, and going into the eighties, did not make that much. A few make an extraordinary amount of money, but there were significant disparities in salaries for the vast majority of players. With the average NFL career lasting 3.5 years, that pot of gold could use a discreet manager.

Right but that was the 60's, 70's and 80's. The NFL minimum rookie salary is like $420,000 today so... even if it's not SET FOR LIFE money... it's a lot.

 

[stlnd01]

Right but that was the 60's, 70's and 80's. The NFL minimum rookie salary is like $420,000 today so... even if it's not SET FOR LIFE money... it's a lot.

And the average career is about three years. So you make $1.2 million, lose half of it in taxes, and then you're 25 with a broken body, $600,000 in the bank at best and - assuming you've been single-mindedly pursuing your NFL dreams since age 15 - what to do, exactly?
Best get that degree.

 

[BGIF]

Your commentary on the Brown story reminds me a line from one of Aesop's fables - Those grapes are probably sour anyway. Why the sour grapes and sarcasm over a simple feel good story?

You need to reread The Fox and The Grapes. It was about the fox's cognitive dissonance.


I apologize that although I don't follow NFL football I did remember the story about a lineman that got a boatload of money ... and underperformed. Was benched. And then new management released him outright.

He didn't walk away at the height of his career like Tillman, did he?

But that's what the writer in the OP was spinning. Shame on me for mentioning some relevant details.

BTW I did point out that it was laudable that he was doing something with his life unlike so many other ex-NFL guys.




Here's what SBNation had to say about Jason Brown:

St. Louis Rams Cut Jason Brown
By Ryan Van Bibber  @justRVB on Mar 12 2012, 2:18p 61

Interior linemen were already a need for the St. Louis Rams this year, and that need just got a little more pressing as of Monday. The Rams released Jason Brown, according to Aaron Wilson of Scout.com.

Brown's release is the first major roster move since Jeff Fisher took over as head coach. Cutting Brown and his sizable contract carries significant implications for the Rams. Let's review.

The Rams signed Brown in 2009, making him one of the wealthiest centers in the league with a five-year, $37.5 million deal. He was almost an immediate disappointment.

Brown never really lived up to his status as a one of the top free agent linemen that season. He underperformed with the Rams, getting manhandled by bigger defensive tackles. Last season it finally proved to be too much for even Steve Spagnuolo, who benched Brown and replaced him in the lineup with Tony Wragge.

Brown returned to the lineup later in the season at guard, filling in for injuries.

Releasing hims forces the team to eat some of his hefty contract. He had a $7.2 million cap hit this year, and the Rams just saved $2.8 million in cap space by cutting him.