Lavish spending is common among professional athletes. However, some purchases turn out to be more regrettable than others. Terrell Owens, for instance, shocked the NFL world by losing his reported career earnings of $80 million, partly due to his extravagant spending on luxury items. Although his story may seem extreme, he is not the only NFL star who has had to learn this lesson the hard way. Andrew Whitworth is another athlete who recently opened up on his experience with impulsive spending early in his career.
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In the latest episode of the Fitz & Whit Show with Jason Kelce, the former Bengals OT revealed his love for luxury cars. However, his passion at the start of his NFL career was too strong to be practical.
Whitworth reminisced how in the second year of his NFL career, he went on a “boys’ trip” when he spontaneously bought a Bentley. Yes, you read that right. Jason Kelce and co-host Ryan Fitzpatrick were stunned to hear about this whimsical financial expense.
“I was into nice cars—still am. This might shock you, but I bought a Bentley and a few other nice cars. I remember coming home with it—this is a true story. It was completely on a whim. My buddies and I were on a boys’ trip, just out for lunch, and I decided to buy it.”
But as the movie Hangover has taught us, men hardly make a sound decision on a boys’ trip. It was true in Andrew’s case too. Upon reaching home, Whitworth’s wife was baffled to see her husband bring home a two-door, four-seated sports car, considering they were expecting their third child together.
Melissa Whitworth then asked the NFL legend to explain how their three kids would fit in this car. This was when Andrew realized his mistake.
“We were expecting our third child at the time, and when I got home, Melissa was like, ‘You bought a two-door, four-seat sports car? Where are our three kids supposed to sit?’ And I realized… yeah, bad idea. I lost a lot of money on that Bentley because I ended up selling it right after I bought it.”
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Whitworth’s anecdote is also a lesson in financial responsibility. Most of us tend to get caught up in the excitement of receiving the paycheck at the end of every month. As Whitworth’s story taught us, practical purchases often make sense in the long run. That said, kudos to Andrew Whitworth for not only recognizing his costly mistake right away but also turning it into a humorous anecdote.
