NFL WAG Breaks Down Harsh Realities of Family's Finances as She Addresses Biggest Misconceptions: 'We’re Not Millionaires'

The life of an NFL WAG is not what it seems.

Bryce Watts Hansen, wife of former pro football free agent Chad Hansen, gave her TikTok viewers an inside look at her family’s finances while her husband was in the league and debunked the misconception that all NFL WAGs are millionaires.

Chad was selected by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft after playing college football for the California Golden Bears at the University of California, Berkeley, where he met Bryce. He appeared in 15 games during his rookie season and was waived by the team in September 2018.

“He’s been on 8 different NFL teams,” Bryce says in the video, explaining, “That means 8 different contracts being signed and broken.” While she acknowledged that the NFL salary is “good money no matter what,” she broke down the little-known reality and issues facing free agent families.

During his time in the NFL, Chad signed with the following teams: New York Jets (2017-2018), New England Patriots (2018), Tennessee Titans (2018), Denver Broncos (2019), New Orleans Saints (2019), Houston Texans (2019-2020), Detroit Lions (2021) and Atlanta Falcons (2021-2022).

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As the wife of a free agent for five years, Bryce says she “knows the drill” when it comes to unexpected waivers that often result in moving to a new state depending on the team. “You’re a professional mover,” he jokes. “Six different countries, eight different teams.”

Bryce explains, “I know how to get a flight…move all our stuff. It’s like an expense you have to eat.” She continues, “It’s like all these little things that you might like have to be going on in your head.”

Despite the obstacles they had to consider before Hanson’s recent retirement from the NFL, Bryce was sure to note that they “all understand” that they are “blessed,” in a “great position” and “money is not to be scoffed at” in the League. Still, she wants to “have a conversation beyond that.”

“It’s interesting because that’s something I didn’t know,” Bryce said of herself in the past, who “thought NFL players were millionaires.” She added, “That would be really great if that was the case, if we were a team and all that stuff. But you know, that’s just not the reality for everybody.”

Here are just a few of the biggest misconceptions about WAG finances that Bryce Watts Hansen has debunked.

Not all NFL contracts are the same

Chad Hansen during training camp with the Detroit Lions in July 2021.

Leon Halip/Getty

NFL contracts vary by team, player, position and more. For Chad, who was a free agent who signed with eight different teams during his career, consistency was not guaranteed.

“That means eight different contracts are being signed and terminated,” Bryce says in his TikTok video. While she notes that “it’s good money” whether signed to a team’s “practice squad” or “active roster” contract, she says “these contracts are not guaranteed,” as is the case with her husband.

“He signed a contract. Then a few months later you don’t get anything, especially if you sign at the beginning of the offseason and then get cut during the offseason,” she explains. “You don’t see any of that money because you didn’t play over and over again, you didn’t go to training.”

For example, the New England Patriots claimed Hansen off waivers on September 2, 2018. The waiver was waived on September 10th a few days later.

A similar scenario happened with the New Orleans Saints. The team signed Hansen to a contract on June 11, 2019, and canceled it on July 25 of that year.

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Rent is added when moving from team to team

Signing with a new NFL team may cause the player and his family to relocate depending on the location of the state. As for Bryce and Chad, they lived in six different states during their eight team changes.

At one point, Bryce says they were “paying three different rents” at the same time! “It was a bit of ignorance on our part, but we also couldn’t prepare for that situation,” he explains in his TikTok of the unexpected release.

“He had just signed, renewed his lease on his place in New Jersey, and then he was released to New Jersey after being drafted the year before,” Bryce recalls. “You have an assumption in your head that if they’re recruiting you, they’re investing in you at least for that first contract you have.”

For Chad’s first NFL season with the Jets, Bryce recalls being released shortly after they signed the lease on their new residence. He was then picked up by the Patriots, who moved him to Foxborough, Mass.

“I was actually looking for a place in Foxborough for us,” recalls Bryce, who says, “The day I came back and said, ‘Hey, I actually have a few places that I thought were pretty cool,’ he told me that released.”

Sometimes several rents are paid at once

Bryce Watts Hansen and her husband Chad Hansen.

BRYCE WATTS HANSEN/Instagram

Aside from the unplanned situation where the NFL couple paid three rents at once, Bryce says in his TikTok video that some families pay two rents depending on the season. “An off-season place and then somewhere when you go during the season,” she says of their past experience.

“Moving isn’t cheap—and a lot of times, like with us, you want security,” adds Bryce.

“I think we were in Atlanta for about a month and a half—and I think all in all it ended up being about $10,000 to move there and move all our stuff there,” she says. Random little things that you don’t really think about … that’s where the costs added up for us, especially the relocation.”

Storage units cost money

The time between signing a contract with a team is stressful in terms of employment status, but also because players and their families don’t know if they will have to pack up and start again.

“Then when they let you go, it’s like, ‘Where are you going to put your stuff’?” asks Bryce on TikTok. “So you’re going to have to get a storage unit … so you’re paying for a place to store your stuff at a certain point in time.”

Bryce pointed to a couch they own that appears to be “falling apart,” noting that it was only in a storage unit. “We don’t care about furniture at all,” she says, noting that their priority is “flexibility” and “we go wherever we need, whenever we need.”

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Hotel stays can be even more expensive

Chad Hansen of the Houston Texans walks off the field after a game in January 2021.

Cooper Neill/Getty

Bryce and Chad changed their life plans when he signed with the Tennessee Titans in 2018 and the Denver Broncos in 2019, respectively. -per-day rental” in a hotel in Colorado.

“It ended up being a little over $100,” Bryce revealed. “But all in all, it ends up being more expensive… It’s nice to have the flexibility and not sign a lease or anything like that, but it turns out to be more expensive than just signing month-to-month, year-to-year.”

Not all players buy smart

Bryce praises Chad for his wise purchases when he received the checks from the NFL, choosing to use some of his income for stock investments rather than luxury items. “In the beginning he was so smart with his money, like super boring but very smart,” she says in her TikTok.

“It was his first big purchase,” recalls Bryce of Chad’s investment in stocks rather than expensive cars. While he says such purchases aren’t “bad” because they certainly “earned” the right to do so by entering the NFL, he says it’s just a “different decision” from them.

In fact, Bryce says their financial choices have “helped” them in the long run instead of having to pay off a house or a car (which she notes Chad still drives his 2006 truck he got in high school). “It’s obviously a lot of money,” she adds.

Players may require additional health costs

Bryce and Chad Hansen pose in Hawaii.

Chad Hansen/Instagram

Another finance that Bryce and Chad had to consider during their time in the NFL was medical expenses. “You get a lot of money, but a lot of money goes to doctor’s appointments… those things that are important to the players,” she says.

“All these things help you stay healthy and stay your best… It’s like these little weird things here and there,” Bryce shares. “The costs are really starting to rise… That’s where we decided to put our money and [our decisions] ended up helping us and helping him.”

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Free agents don’t get paid until they sign a contract with a team

Chad Hansen runs a route during minicamp with the New York Jets in June 2018.

Mark Brown/Getty

When a free agent is released from a team, he does not get paid until he re-signs. Because of this, Bryce praises Chad for his smart spending because he was able to support himself between jobs.

“I’ll give it to my husband,” she says in her TikTok. “He’s a boring spender, but he’s very smart in what he’s done because it’s allowed us to do all these things like when he wasn’t on the team all the time, and then he got the Texans in 2020.”

Not all players get paid after retirement

Bryce says Chad “recently decided to retire” from the NFL, so he “hasn’t earned an NFL salary in over two years.” She recalls in her TikTok: “I was doing odd jobs here and there so I could be very present in the situation… There was nothing for almost two years.”

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NFL tickets are not free

Bryce Watts Hansen kisses her husband Chad Hansen.

Chad Hansen/Instagram

In another TikTok video, Bryce debunked rumors that NFL tickets are free for players. “NFL tickets are not free, even if your boyfriend or husband is on the team,” she explains.

“They’re not free. They have to ship them, they have to move them from other players if they don’t have enough for family members, but they also pay taxes,” adds Bryce. “So they’re free, but they’re not free.”

Even the biggest players in the league have to pay for boxes. “They paid for them…they don’t get those boxes for free,” she said plainly. “And when you get ‘free tickets,’ you’re in all these different parts… you’re even sitting with the fans.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education