The initial reaction to most people who hear this story is going to be to say “he just signed a $100 million deal and he is complaining about having to pay 1% of that to change his number?”
The truth is, there are plenty of stories in the NFL of reckless spending by young players who make bad investments and MC Hammer themselves to the point they are working at the Piggly Wiggly a few years after retirement. Rich people stay rich by being smart with their money, and Adrian Peterson is doing just that.
Peterson was contemplating changing numbers from 28 to 23 or 21. A few weeks ago he tweeted out the following @AdrianPeterson
So I’m thinking about changing my number! #28 has been good to me, but I think its time switch it up! What do you think about the switch ? I was thinking 21 or 23! Hands down I would pick #1 but the NFL rules wouldn’t allow it! Only QB
Then yesterday he sent out a series of tweets explaining the situation. (I have summarized the tweets into paragraph form for easier reading)
So here is the deal with the number change! So I received a call and I was informed that I would’ve to buy all jerseys that’s been produced Thus far! N the total amount that I would have to pay blew my mind!!!!!
Why? Ok so I see maybe ten thousand dollars of my total jersey sales! That’s it!!! In I know I’ve mostly likely been in the top ten When it comes to top sales ! Why in the hell do I have to pay a Million dollars to change my number! I don’t even get paid a million Dollars by my sponsors a year! Wow!!! N I’m talking about my nike deal!
So people may not understand some of the things I say from MY POINT OF VEIW! But this situation says a lot! #1 I’m in the top jersey sales! # 2 I see maybe 10,000 from those sales #3 I get paid under 1million a year #4 but I oder to change MY number I have to pay a Million Bucks! Somebody’s winning in that situation & ITs not me! So clearly with that said I won’t be changing my number
He then summed up the whole situation with 1 concise tweet.
He then showed uncommon common sense when people responded exactly like I mentioned above.
Someone just hit me saying stop crying! Lol I’m sharing my thoughts! I thought that’s what twitter was all about. Anyway I won’t be changing My number for the reason you have in front of you! So someone said! You got it just pay it! You must be smoking something to thing I’ll Waste that type of money just to change a number on my work uniform!
Looks like AP will live on into his old age with millions of dollars in his pockets.
What I dont understand is making him pay. When Kobe changed numbers without leaving the Lakers, what did all his fans do? Everybody who had #8 jerseys went out and bought #24.
And if you don’t think somebody will buy a jersey with the old number they are insane. Just sell the leftovers in the team store or at Marshalls for $25 and Dollarnaires will scoop them up. Sure, the profit is diminished, but they do it all the time when a player leaves a team.