Cowboys DE DeMarcus Lawrence went broke, had dad’s help to wake up

It’s often joked how the NFL stands for “Not For Long”, but for many players it’s no laughing matter. In the blink of an eye, childhood dreams can go up in smoke, whether it be from injury, not working hard or simply not being good enough. The average NFL career is three years, meaning for every player who lasts 9 years in the league, there’s three more that never last beyond that first season.

Just think of all of the hopefuls that were released last week from their teams but weren’t added to any club’s practice squad. Their careers are over. Even still, the players that do make it in the league, whether role players or stars, can often find themselves overwhelmed by the financial side of things. Even for high-pedigree draft picks, managing the money they get during their careers in order to last them a lifetime is hardly as easy as it seems in the eyes of fans who only dream of that level of salary.

For the Dallas Cowboys’ DeMarcus Lawrence, he recently admitted that he was one of those who squandered the majority of his rookie contract, but fortunately he wisened up with the help of his dad.

Speaking to the Level Up Lifestyle Podcast, Lawrence recounted the story of his accountant calling him after his third season, telling him his bank account was in the negative.

The end of my third year, I go completely broke. I get that phone call from my accountant, and he’s like ‘Hey man, you don’t have no more money in your account.’ I’m like ‘What do you mean no more, you mean like zero dollars? What are you saying?’ And he’s like ‘I mean like negative $100.’

Lawrence explained how shortly after his dad called looking for assistance and he had to tell him,

Dad, my accountant just told me I have zero dollars.’ He was like, ‘Huh? What’s going on?… Are you stupid?’

And Lawrence said he asked himself and that the comment really struck his soul, inspiring him to get his act together and better manage his finances.

Lawrence, who suffered a foot injury that derailed his rookie campaign, broke out in Year 2 with 8 sacks, but then suffered a four-game suspension to start the 2016 season and only received 13 of his 17 game checks. His season ended early when he succumbed to a back injury, playing in just nine games.

Lawrence’s rookie contract was for a total of $5.5 million and included a $2.3 million signing bonus and base salaries of $420,000, $670,000 and $703,000 across those first three seasons.

It was all gone. NFL…