Chad Johnson has a reputation as one of the NFL’s most flashy players. According to CBS Sports, despite the image he constructed of himself, Johnson was an extremely frugal player when he first entered the league.
When he originally entered the NFL, he stayed in the Cincinnati Bengals’ stadium for the first two years to save money. As a rookie in the NFL, he stated that there was no need to spend and squander money because everything he required was at the stadium.
As a rookie, he discussed his thrifty living as a guest on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast. “As a rookie coming into the NFL, I remained at the stadium my first two years because there was no purpose in spending money and squandering money when everything I needed was already there,” Johnson told Sports Illustrated’s Sharpe.
“There’s nothing that I can buy that’s bigger than my name alone. So, it made no sense. But everybody’s caught up in the image and looking a certain way and being rich,” he said. “Do you know how hard it is to live like that consistently and be fly every day?”
Johnson further revealed that he never got a place of his own until he had spent four years in the NFL. He said: “I didn’t move out of my grandmother’s house because I was content and used to where I live. I didn’t move out of my grandmother’s house until my fourth year in the NFL.”
The former professional football player noted that as a result of his frugal lifestyle, he was able to save $80 percent of the salary he made. “People think to fix the problem is, ‘Well, give me more money, and I will be alright.’ But the more you make, the more you spend—if you have no discipline.”