Welcome back to The Jalen Ramsey Show. We’re inching ever-closer to a 2020 season that may or may not be. Nonetheless, we’re here today to take your calls and discuss your life and your money.We got open lines at 818-338-0011. And we’ll start off this hour of the Jalen Ramsey Show with, well look at this, it’s another Jalen in Philadelphia, PA. Hi Jalen!

Hey Jalen, thanks for taking my call. How’s it going?

Better than the Jaguars under Tom Coughlin. How can I help?

I’m calling about, like, how you were saying on the introduction there that this season may not even happen. And I’m trying to see if you can steer me a little bit about what a rookie in the league should be thinking about as we move forward.

Alright, young blood. So you didn’t take the opt-out then. You said you’re a rookie? What kind of a contract you got? Where were you drafted?

Day 2 draftee. $6 million but I did get $1.9 million of it up front signing.

Dang, well, if you were 65 then conventional wisdom would say you’re good to go. The working estimate has been about $1.8 million dollars to retire comfortably. So if you were to stuff that signing bonus away, you’d be fine if you can tread water for the next 40 years.

Well, I’m not leaving the league or anything. I’m just wondering, you know, should I be buying a house now and eliminating my rent payment? Do I get into stock? I’m concerned about the volatility in the world right now.

Hey son, there’s always volatility in the world. How many schools you look at before choosing your college team? Probably ten? Maybe 20, even if just to go check out the tail?

Hell man, I played three years for a national champ before transferring to my final home in Oklahoma. I guess that was volatility, yeah.

This is what I’m saying. We’re in a recession — I’m banking on a depression — and you’re aging into your prime earnings years just as quickly as you’re aging out of your career. So be thankful you aren’t… let’s say…my agent having to deal with a cheap ass billionaire who doesn’t want to pay up because he’s concerned about this economic nonsense. But that’s the rub of a consumer-driven economy. When demand isn’t there, that’s it.

And I’m a little worried that some teams are going to try to outsmart themselves and start moving assets to plan for a 2021 return. I don’t see my GM doing that but, if someone came to him with the right offer, I’m sure I’m expendable. Then I’m stuck owning a place in West Oak Lane while playing in Jacksonville.

Hey man, that real estate instability is part of the job. It’s a season and off-season thing. You’ll figure that out when you get a family. In the mean time, you sit pat. Don’t buy a car. I ain’t even getting new landscaping done right now because service prices are going to be coming down. We went from, I was told, the greatest economy the history of the world has ever seen and it didn’t mean shit for people. Consumer debt wasn’t eliminated. Mortgages weren’t paid off early. Economic security didn’t substantially change. Hertz is out of business and they’re auctioning their assets off. Once the eviction moratorium is announced, Wells Fargo will be premiering Illegal Eviction Practices II: Eviction Boogaloo. You aren’t going to be getting 2008 level deals but cash is always king in a slowdown.

Should I be playing though when —

Yes! Yes you should be fucking playing! If you got a condition, I get it. You got a family circumstance, fine. Honestly, I will accept any thoughtful and sincere excuse you can give me. I don’t blame anyone for being concerned about what’s going on. But you stayed on through the opt-out deadline. You’ve committed to your team and, frankly, you need all the reps you can get, rookie. If something changes and you’re no longer comfortable, fine. But you cannot sit out and the root of the reason be, “because I can.”

Nah, I’m in man. I just don’t want to make any kind of mistake that will mess up my long term finances or anything man. 

You’re a millionaire celebrity, kid! You’re gonna be fine! If the NFL got eliminated tomorrow — which would absolutely happen, by the way, if Q finally arrested the global child sex trafficking ring they’re closing in on — you could be top salesman at the Norman Chrysler-Dodge Dealership on 20 hours a week. But that ain’t gonna happen. The US economy has been shot in the gut, is laying in the gutter moaning, and no one is going to even stop taking Tic Tok Vines of the scene until, at earliest, next January. When revenues dry up like this, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. You’re rich so, at the end of the day, just follow the same plan you should have been on. Don’t bump up your lifestyle beyond what’s necessary and ball out because that is your key to endorsements and huge contracts.

Thanks, Mr Ramsey. I appreciate your insight.

No problem my man. And that’s my message to everyone out there: stay consistent. Devise a plan and stick to it. This is a curve ball; I get it. You need to keep your eye on your long term goals and probably have to update your short term strategies to get you on the path for long term success. If you squirreled away more cash when things were good, the shock hopefully won’t be as catastrophic. If you didn’t, well, now you’re going to war with the army you have, not the army you wish you had. But let’s close that up and move over to line 4 where we have Benny in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Benny! Welcome to the Jalen Ramsey Show.

Snell ya later!

Sorry was that..folks, this doesn’t happen often but it looks like I got crossed up. Benny? We got you now?

Snell yeah!

Benny? We got you.

Yo Jalen! Thanks for having me on the show to promote my brand.

I….don’t follow, Benny.

Hey as a second-year player, I know my NFL contract is just one source of income for my household. Being a hard-nosed running back in the NFC North, I’m already looking to maximize my endorsement earnings by pushing my own brand — Benny Snell, Jr — when I’m not required to wear the team gear.

I see. And how’s that working out?

It’s coming along man. Got some shirts for sale. Media appearances. Gonna move into speaking engagements. You know, I see Tom Brady out there with his TB12 and then I’m like, hey I need my own personal brand.

Well, you’re third on the depth chart of a team that finished six games back in the division where you accounted for all of 400 yards and two touchdowns last season. What, exactly, is the emotion your brand conveys?

It’s about the grind. But it’s also about a good time and, you know, Snell Yeah! That’s what people are saying.

No it isn’t. You ain’t Beast Mode.

So I’m trying to get an idea of how I should forecast my earnings with my brand versus my playing career and other endorsements.

Yeah so you mentioned Tom Brady. Overrated and a drug cheat, equipment cheat, and spying cheat — so you can see why he’s such a big Trump guy — but still super popular. $100 million in earnings. Endorsements with Under Armor, Tag Huer, and Uggs. You know what TB12 is? It’s a front. It’s a front to launder cash outside his contract and operate Alex Guerrero’s entire PED system.

Well I’m thinking, like, a lot of guys are starting up YouTube channels and stuff for extra income and so I figured —

And another thing! The logos and nicknames guys are coming up with, come on! MegaWATT? Brees is just Nine? Sherman’s selling Denied by RS25 shirts? JaredAllen69Inc.Com websites? Look, we’re all professional football players. Anyone turn into Jordan, sure, bet on yourself. But everyone has photoshop. Fucking high school kids have their own brands now. Mommy and me blogs about furniture refinishing have their own brands. When everyone has something, it becomes less exclusive.

But Snell is like Hell. Like Hell Yeah! Except it’s like —

I fucking get it! I’m not an idiot. And I’m never going to tell any player to not make his money. That’s why we’re here. But don’t tell me your brand is special. Your brand is your play. No one wants to buy your little team-color tee shirt with a cutesy display of your numbers and maybe a pun about your nickname. It all goes back to your play. Quit looking for shortcuts. Remember all the fuss around Johnny Dollar Signs Manziel? Who ended up giving a shit when the guy barely made it on the field?

I thought you’d be supportive of a player with entrepreneurial drive.

I’m supportive of the goal. But when you trade in guaranteed endorsement cash so you can call yourself an entrepreneur and insist you’re a brand, that’s a financial trade off. I’m not interested in getting into your situation specifically but that’s something of which you need to be cognizant. And that’s all I’m saying. I got an aunt back home who don’t know what she wants so now she’s an MLM entrepreneur, I’m told. I hate The Shield but I’ll gladly take their money and if that means I’m a player instead of an entrepreneur, I’ll take it. But if you want to prove me wrong, go take your tee shirts to Shark Tank and maybe you’ll prove me wrong!

So that’s it for this hour. Just a reminder, I was right about Josh Allen being a small school bust. Can’t go 24/46 in the post season, put up less than 20 points, and then insist he’s not just a gimmicky player. So y’all mask up and we’ll be back next time, right here, on The Jalen Ramsey Show.