Lions Receiver Ryan Broyles Lives On A Budget Of $60,000 A Year [Video]

You hear so many stories of athletes who have blown through millions of dollars because of their extravagant spending, that it's refreshing to hear of a guy who's actually practicing restraint.

Broyles, who just signed a new deal worth over $3-Million Dollars in 2012, budgets his money, well aware that his career as a pro football player is short.

And the great thing is, he's not the only one.

Broyles tells ESPN that he keeps his family on a comparatively tiny budget: $60-thousand dollars a year. That’s quite an achievement when you consider how much money a typical NFL star can blow on a single night out at the club.

Broyles told ESPN that he wants to ensure that his NFL career really sets him up for life, no matter how long he manages to make it last. Broyles, who’s entering the last year of his rookie contract and has no guarantee he’ll make the Lions roster.

Back in 2012, Broyles signed a four-year contract worth $3.6 million with $1.42 million guaranteed. Since then, he’s faced several injuries, but this year he’s hoping to really compete. Broyles claims his budget has kept him from going broke, and lets him play football for just the love of the game. He said, “The pressure I put on myself is just being the best player I am. I would never play (just) for money…”

And what makes him so frugal: his past injuries. He knows the business is fickle and that getting hurt could end your career in a moment. He had three season ending leg injuries in college.

The good news? Broyles is doing well in training camp, and looks to be improving after his run of bad health. “Control what you can control. Whenever opportunity presents itself, try to make the best of it.” Broyles told the Detroit News.

“No matter where you are on the depth chart, this is training camp,” he said. “We’re out here trying to critique ourselves, be the best player we can be for whenever the opportunity presents itself.”

And he's not the only NFL player who is planning for his financial future. Baltimore Ravens lineman John Urschel disciplines himself to live on just $25,000 a year, and drives a Nissan Versa, which magnifies his huge 6-3, 305 pound frame. 

Urschel, who has a degree in Mathematics from Penn State, recently explained to the Player's Tribune:

What my mother and a great majority of my friends, family, and fellow mathematicians don’t understand is that I’m not playing for the money. I’m not playing for some social status associated with being an elite athlete. No, the media has not brainwashed me into thinking this is what real men do.

 

I play because I love the game. I love hitting people. There’s a rush you get when you go out on the field, lay everything on the line and physically dominate the player across from you. This is a feeling I’m (for lack of a better word) addicted to, and I’m hard-pressed to find anywhere else. My teammates, friends and family can attest to this: When I go too long without physical contact I’m not a pleasant person to be around. This is why, every offseason, I train in kickboxing and wrestling in addition to my lifting, running and position-specific drill work. I’ve fallen in love with the sport of football and the physical contact associated with it.