Minnesota Viking Player Signs Contract Then Works His Shift at Target

great story. will definitely be rooting for this kid.

 

Considering he probably signed for the minimum with not much of a bonus or guarantee to make the team, it's smart that he kept his regular job.

 

True. He'll make very little if he doesn't make the team, or at least practice squad, as players only get paid in the regular season. Throughout mini-camps and training camp they just receive a stipend for showing up.

 

I don't know what the minimum is, but I assume it's more than what his manager makes in one year so it's impressive.

 

If he doesn't make the team, then he would be making less than what he makes at Target (depending on his signing bonus).

Keep in mind that this was a free agent signing from a "Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference" school.

 

There was a good QB from Central Arkansas that went undrafted but signed with the Jags immediately after the draft. He was cut on either Tuesday or Wednesday, about 10 days after he signed.

Good move by this kid to keep his job. There's no guarantee he'll be around long enough to get a chance to make the team or even the practice squad.

 

i thought this was going to be another brett favre thread.

 

I think the minimum is somewhere in the area of $285,000, but don't quote me on that.

Now he just has to make the squad so he can actually receive that money. In a way, the article acts like he just got a pile of money thrown in his lap and it's shocking that he would continue his shift at Target after becoming an overnight millionaire.

 

Someone had to do it, might as well be me.

 

Yeah, I don't get why the article reads as if he just got guaranteed money. All he has is a training camp invite, which basically just means he gets a stipend every week, which if you add up would be considerably less than a manager at Target would make. I think I remember hearing that if you were to convert the stipend in training camp into a yearly salary, it converts into something like $20,000 a year or something. Still a good story though, and I'm rooting for him to make the team.

 

Reminds me of one of my absolute favorite Ron Artest episodes (which grow by the day):

Summer 1999: Before his rookie season, Artest applied for a part-time job at a Circuit City outlet in the Chicago area. But the Bulls stepped in before he could begin work ... and benefit from the employee discount.

Said Artest: "I thought it would be fun. And I had a friend who worked there."

He also apparently listed then-Bulls GM Jerry Krause as a reference on his application.

 

With the unemployment rate as high as it is, he should not be hogging jobs that way. I am sure there are plenty of other people who are struggling to feed their families, but this rich football player refuses to give up his job.

Horrible.

 

Ron Artest does it and gets ridiculed, this kid does it and get praised....

 

Well to be fair, when you are in the NBA you have a guaranteed contract. Where as in the NFL you really don't.

 

Please tell me this went over my head. If you don't see the difference between a multimillionaire trying to get a job at Best Buy for an employee's discount and a college student who continues to work at his job at Target after signing a free agent contract because he feels he owes them, I don't know what more to say.

btw, if I were the Vikings owner, I'd carry this guy on my practice squad.

 

Good move on the kid's part given the uncertainty of an NFL career. Even if his pro-football doesn't pan out I can see him being moved to Targets PR dept..

 

I don't know what kind of party you are planning on having.