December 4, 2025
‘We weren’t taught about no financial literacy…We weren’t taught this skill.’
NFL player Odell Beckham Jr. discussed the lack of financial literacy among young athletes on a recent episode of The Pivot.
Beckham, who won a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams in 2021, has made hundreds of millions but said he lacked the right tools to be financially solvent.
“I’ve always explained this to people, bro, you give somebody a 5-year, $100 million contract–what is it really? It’s five years for 60 (million),” he said on the podcast. “You’re getting taxed. Do the math, that’s 12 a year that you have to spend, use, save, invest, flaunt, whatever. I’ma buy a car, I’ma give my momma a house. Everything costs money. So, if you’re spending $4 million a year, that’s really $40 million over five years, eight a year.”
But, Beckham said, after taxes, buying property, investments, and regular expenses, the money isn’t as much as it appears.
“Now, you start breaking down the numbers, and it’s like that’s a five-year span of where you’re getting $8 million,” he explained. “Can you make that last forever? And you always hear the people who ain’t us and ain’t be in the position, like, ‘Oh, that would last a lifetime.’ Yeah, this job I sacrificed my whole life for, they are giving me that. I didn’t ask for the certain dollar amount or whatever. But we weren’t taught about no financial literacy…We weren’t taught this skill.”
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Beckham is a free agent and isn’t currently on a roster. However, according to The Root, he accepted a six-game suspension after he tested positive for having unusual testosterone levels. If and when he signs with an NFL team, he will have to serve the punishment before he can play in a game.
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