NFL draft prospect who could get a $2.7 million signing bonus still drives his old Honda Accord: ‘It gets me from A to B'

When the 2024 NFL Draft kicks off in Detroit on Thursday night, Braden Fiske will join hundreds of other former college football players waiting to hear their names called to begin their pro careers and potentially sign multimillion-dollar contracts.

A former Florida State University defensive tackle, Fiske is currently projected to be a second-round pick in this year's draft, according to a roundup of mock drafts. That would mean a likely contract of around $8 million over four years, including a $2.7 million signing bonus, according to MarketWatch.

But whether or not that impending windfall means Fiske will upgrade his ride remains to be seen:

"Everyone tries to get me to buy a new car because I have a Honda Accord, and I'm way too big to be driving a Honda Accord," Fiske, who NFL.com lists at 6-foot-4 and 292 pounds, told MarketWatch in March. "It's only got 150,000 miles on it, though, and it gets me from A to B." 

Life-changing NCAA income gave him 'peace of mind'

The idea of young athletes reaping instant riches has long been an annual subplot of the NFL draft. The reality has become slightly less dramatic in recent years since the NCAA began allowing players to benefit financially from their name, image and likeness, starting in 2021. Previously required to maintain an "amateur" status, collegiate athletes are now free to earn money through endorsements and other deals that can bring in thousands, or millions, of dollars for some players.

For Fiske, that meant signing a "six-figure NIL deal" in 2023 with The Battle End, a collective established to help FSU players earn NIL money, he recently told Business Insider. While Fiske has not disclosed the specific total he earned from NIL deals while in college, he added that the new source of income "changed my life."

"I remember a time when I was down to my last $20 and had to decide if I was going to spend it on gas or food. The money I received gave me a peace of mind I did not have previously," Fiske told Business Insider.

Now, as Fiske prepares to learn where his NFL career will begin, he's already gotten a head start on making smart decisions about how to spend his professional football earnings. He's hired a financial advisor, started a Roth IRA, and put more money away in a brokerage account. 

"I used a lot of my NIL money for investments. I put much of that money into a brokerage account in the stock market to set myself up for retirement," he said.

Fiske believes a lot of college athletes could use more financial literacy training, especially now. Though he made some savvy choices, Fiske admitted he made "a few mistakes" early on after receiving his NIL money. "I saw the dollar sign and hit the mall up to go shopping. I love buying shoes. That's one red flag about me," said Fiske, who is particularly fond of Nike's Air Jordan 1 sneakers.

After this week's draft, and once Fiske signs his first NFL contract, he'll likely have enough money to afford more than a few pairs of sneakers. Will he also be tempted to buy a new set of wheels?

"I'm sure I'll give in once I see more 0s on my account," Fiske told MarketWatch.

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