Former NFLer Robert Griffin III was distraught when he ‘only’ got $6.9M of $14M signing bonus
When the Washington Redskins signed then-rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III for his first contract in 2012, the deal’s estimated $21.1 million price tag was all over the headlines. What didn’t make the headlines was how much Griffin actually got to take home at the time.
In a recent interview with former MMA fighter Demetrious Johnson the Mighty podcast, the former athlete revealed that the deal was structured to give him $14 million upfront as a signing bonus with the rest later, but he only saw $6.9 million appear in his bank account.
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"I called my agent immediately,” Griffin recalls. “I'm distraught! ‘Oh my god, they took all the money out. Where is the $14 million?’ And he’s like, ‘Rob, it’s taxes.’”
Griffin admits the experience stung, but it ultimately highlighted a harsh truth: many pro athletes end up broke simply because they were never taught the financial basics. It’s a lesson that resonates far beyond the sports world.
Lack of financial literacy
Rookie athletes with rare talent in their sport are often entrusted with multimillion dollar contracts, but many are woefully unprepared for this windfall. Griffin admits he wasn’t ready to manage his immense fortune when he was first signed.
“I wasn’t financially literate when I first got into the NFL,” he told Johnson. “I never had that kind of money.”
This is why Griffin — who was just 22 years old at the time — was unaware that marginal tax rates for multimillionaires can be as high as 50% in some states, according to SmartAsset.
However, a lack of essential financial skills isn’t restricted to those who earn big payouts and have complicated tax situations. On average, U.S. adults could only answer 49% of 28 personal finance questions correctly, according to the 2025 TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index.
This rate of financial literacy has remained more or less the same over the past eight years, according to the report.
The report also found how detrimental this lack of financial skills could be. Adults with low financial literacy were twice as likely to be constrained by debt, three times more likely to be financially vulnerable and five times more likely to not have at least one month of emergency savings.
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