One of the first things that New York Giants rookie running back Saquon Barkley did after making it to the NFL was to go out and buy his parents a new home. Barkley, 21, says that buying his parents their dream house has always been a goal of his. And he was able to do so without touching his rookie contract. In fact, Barkley has yet to even sign his rookie deal with the G-Men.
According to ESPN, Barkley used money from his numerous endorsements, including Nike, Pepsi and Panini America, to purchase the home in Whitehall, Pennsylvania, and he intends to follow that pattern on future purchases as well, allowing his NFL paychecks to stack up in the bank.
Speaking at CC Sabathia's Celebrity Softball Game at Yankee Stadium last night, Barkley said he wants to follow the "Marshawn Lynch method" of investing his NFL salary and living off endorsement money.
"Once I realized when I declared for the NFL draft and kind of realized where I was going to be drafted, that was something I was like, 'You know what? Kind of want to follow the Marshawn Lynch method. I don't want to touch that. I want to invest it, put it in the right peoples' hands and learn as I continue to make investments. And just live off the endorsement deals,'" Barkley said, according to ESPN.
"That's the goal," Barkley said. "Not to touch it."
The #2 overall pick hopes to set an example for other young athletes in terms of making fiscally responsible decisions with their millions. "Obviously it's special," Barkley said. "I just hope I can set an example for future athletes and other athletes that, planning on doing something like that, I was able to do that without signing my contract," he said. "That just shows that so far I've been making a lot of right decisions and surrounding myself with a great team. They have been able to help me a lot. I have to give a lot of credit."