NFL Rookies: What to Expect & Things You Need to Know | Zach Miller, Sam Acho, Jeff Locke, Riccardo Stewart | NFL Players’ Podcast #14
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The NFL concluded its 2024 NFL Draft. With 257 drafted rookies plus free agents, many players are joining an NFL franchise for the first time. Many players were prepared for pre-draft training, interviews, The NFL Combine, pro days, etc.
However, many players are not prepared for the business and logistics of the NFL. In this episode, we lean on the AWM NFL team's experience to provide wisdom, perspective, and next steps on what will come now that players are drafted.
For questions, you can reach out to Riccardo Stewart at +1 (602) 989-5022.
+ Read the Transcript
Riccardo Stewart (00:11): Welcome you guys back again to another episode of the AWM NFL Podcast. My name is Ricardo Stewart and I'm your host and I'm joined with three of my closest friends and coworkers. We've got Zach Miller, Sam Acho and the man himself, Jeff Locke. So the time that this is going to be aired, the NFL draft is going to be over. So this is actually for us as we're recording it, draft week. Sam's already down in Detroit. We're going to talk to him about that. But before we begin the episode, we're going to talk about what does it mean to be a Ricky?
Like what are some of the things that a rookie needs to know now that he's been drafted into the NFL? Let's start first, Zach, let's tell your experience of coming out of Arizona State for your draft day, 2000...
Zach Miller (00:58): Yeah, so back in 2007, they did the draft quite different. So they did the whole draft in one day, I believe it might be two days, man. That's how long it's been. But the first round lasted literally six hours. So I was hoping to go in the first round. I'm with my parents, my family in Arizona. And I'm starting to get ready early in that first round. Like, hey, maybe a team wants me that early.
That whole first round though took six hours. So about halfway into that six hours, started early in the morning at nine or whatever time it was. I had to pour myself a drink at about one, two o'clock in the afternoon, because I'm like, dude, how long is this gonna last? Where am I gonna go? And so eventually the Raiders called me, Al Davis, Lane Kiffin, took me 38th overall, and it was an amazing experience and great and relieved - and all that and happy to be drafted. But man, it was stressful for me. I'm not gonna lie, I was stressed out like the whole time. And then, you know, I was hoping to go in the first round, but you know, everything worked out in the end. Had a chip on my shoulder and all those teams that passed on me, wanted to prove them wrong throughout my whole NFL career.
Riccardo Stewart (02:12): Yeah, forget those guys. So when it comes to, no, I gotta hear another story. Jeff, oddly enough, I remember both of your guys' stories. One, Zach, because he was a former teammate and he got drafted to my favorite team. But I remember when Jeff got drafted, one, because it was a punter that was getting drafted and he was a local guy. So living in Arizona, it was like, there's all the guys from Arizona that got drafted. I'm like, wow, there was a punter that got drafted in the fifth round. So even though I just kinda like blew your cover on where you got drafted, let's hear your story, Jeff.
Jeff Locke (02:40): Yeah, it's a little different than Zach's. I pretty much knew I was going day three either way. So when I got drafted, just like it is now, day one is on Thursday, first round, day two, Friday, second and third round, then Saturday, the rest of us, four through seven, and the undrafted guys figure out where they're going. So my best friend from college actually had a wedding on Friday of day two when second and third are going.
So I was in Orange County and when I got drafted, I was sitting in some random hotel room in Orange County on Saturday with my parents after going to that wedding. Vikings call, talk to my agent. And the funny thing is I do a little media. They don't really care about a punter, right?
There's not much media for me to do other than say like, yeah, I'm coming to Minnesota. Then I actually went and saw a movie after the draft. Went and saw 42, the movie about Jackie Robinson. I remember vividly seeing that movie after because I'm like, what do I do now? wait around for sixth, seventh round. But that was a really unique draft experience for me. And I was really lucky to go in the fifth as a punter.
Riccardo Stewart (03:46): That's legit. The UCLA guy goes and see another UCLA guy's movie. I like that. And it inspired you, you know what I mean? Just like Jackie Robinson, you were gonna be the first black punter in the NFL. I'm just playing a teacher. Well, let's segue here. Sam, you're in Detroit. And so you're there, you're interviewing draft guys that are about to be drafted. They're asking you questions. The NFLPA has you out there. What sort of advice are you giving these individuals?
Riccardo Stewart (05:53): That's good. That's really good. It's a good experience for you to be out there. So we see on TV, we see the person get drafted. We see him walk across the stage if he's there in Detroit in this case, or he's at home with his family, or maybe several rounds later, they're with their family, they get the phone call, they get drafted, and we immediately think there's certain things that are happening.
Even as an NFL player, you're getting in, you think there's certain things that are gonna happen, but then there's things that you're not expecting. And Zach, I want you to touch on that of going - What are the things that are going to happen for an NFL rookie that they're just not even expecting or thinking about?
Zach Miller (06:30): Yeah, I think one of the biggest shocks is how quick everything just happens and how little time you have to do much else besides get a playbook thrown at you, get all these forms, these documents from the team that you've never seen before, all these letters and initials, I-9, W-4, NFL 401K, NFL Cat Plan, all these things, and they want you to fill them out. And for me, the most money I had in my account when I was at ASU was like 900 bucks.
I didn't know how to foul it on these forums. I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing. So there's just a lot of stuff that the teams, I mean, they're trying to get you in the facility. The coaches are literally just trying to get you to learn the playbook as quick as possible, especially because they want, I mean, they want you on the field. So they want you to study the playbook. They want to get you in that offense, that defense, get you up to speed as quick as possible. And so that your whole time, and then you're in your city almost immediately. So there's like very little time to do anything else, but just... Focus on football and then all that other administration stuff.
Riccardo Stewart (07:32): Yeah. So I mean, like, because, you know, these players have already done this process in some level in college. However, when you get to college, you know, your coach gives you the playbook. You have a grad assistant that's walking you through it. Somebody else is getting your books for you. There's another academic person that's advising you for classes. All of that is happening in the football facilities. But then you get to the NFL and Zach just mentioned a bunch of things with W-4s, I-9, Individuals 401k, NFL cap plan, pension. Jeff, what role does the financial advisor play - and aiding their clients in all of these questions and how to fill out that paperwork?
Jeff Locke (08:08): Yeah, you really nailed it. It's like a time for advisors and the team around you to step up. So you can focus on what you got to do in the building and on the field. Or as Sam mentioned, building relationships in the community of this new city that you're in. So we feel it a lot of questions over the next really four to five weeks with like, Hey, the team just gave me all this stuff, helped me walk through it. And that's exactly what we do. Right. We walk through all the paperwork. W four I nine - NFL benefits, NFL PA setup, all those things. So you're making the right selections. You're filling the forms out the right way.
And the last thing as an advisor that we try to do is we try to have a plan in place before that money hits your account, right? It's kind of like getting punched in the mouth on the football field, right? You gotta have a plan so you know what you're gonna do when things start really happening. And when you see... that 100k plus, maybe a million plus in your bank account for the first time when that first signing bonus hits, things change with how your brain starts working.
Riccardo Stewart (09:14): So just even on that part, I'm gonna come back to you, Zach, for a couple questions. What are some of the things that you see being, like if there's not an advisor that is giving advice on how to fill out this paperwork, can something go wrong if I'm just filling out and I don't know what I'm doing?
Zach Miller (09:35): Yeah, I mean, there's certain forms which they're just, you're not gonna either fill them out right and then you're gonna have a bunch of taxes due later or have too big of a refund, those kinds of forms. And then just not allocating correctly to 401k, maximizing your money. There is ways to mess that kind of paperwork up. So you do want people to actually do it so it's correctly done - for you in particular, not for your teammate. The way your teammate fills it out is actually not probably the way you should fill it out. So it should be customized to how you, whatever your plan is. And then there's a big difference between that first round and that seventh round. So that's another key part of it.
Riccardo Stewart (10:18): Yeah. So here's what we have, right? So we just got finished with tax season and we have guys who were leaving college that are going to the draft. We got a few guys that are getting drafted and they just had to pay a considerable amount of money for their tax liability because they got good NIL money. Those things usually go hand in hand. Usually a guy that has good NIL money is probably about to make money in the NFL. Well, they saw that money leave and they're going, oh, at least I know come August 20th, or excuse me, come April 27th, I'm about to get paid. When does the money actually usually begin to hit?
Zach Miller (10:49): You know, it's a signing bonus. So signing bonus means you got to sign the contract before you get any money. And so that's one of the biggest things is guys will, agents will stop giving the guy's stipends or money and, and they don't have money to get them to when that signing bonus gets paid. And the teams have till two weeks after you actually sign on the dotted line to make that payment. And it's also, I mean, you're on your own at that point. The school doesn't pay for you anymore. Your college is done with you at that point. You're now a pro - and then you don't have any money yet. So you have to have that plan in place to bridge the gap till that signing bonus money hits.
And that could be all the way up to camp. I didn't think I'd be a holdout. Jamarcus Russell holds out. I technically held out the first day of training camp because we were just slow to get the deal done. So I didn't get my signing bonus all the way until I was into August. It was good though. I mean, a million dollar signing bonus, one of the most I had in my account up to that point was like 900 bucks from ASU's Looch Check. That's a nice feeling.
Riccardo Stewart (13:12): That's good. Sam, I'm gonna stay right here with you. What if you talked about that, being a few minutes late, being a few seconds late, like what advice would you give a rookie in terms of like, where do I live my first year? Like in terms of proximity towards the practice facilities.
Riccardo Stewart (14:44): Yeah. Well, one more question. Jeff, I need you to play Cleanup Hitter. Is there anything that we're not thinking about in terms of somewhat of a checklist for rookies? Like, hey, now you're a rookie. We've covered it quite a bit, but is there anything we're missing that you would add?
Jeff Locke (14:59): I think Sandra said it really well on the living situation. We didn't touch on that early in the episode, but team hotel is going to happen. They're going to put you up for a little bit. And then every situation is different on how fast you actually need to go and find an apartment. Every team's going to be a little bit different on if they can let you stay in that team hotel for longer and how much you have to pay to keep staying at the team hotel. So every team's a little bit different there. And we've hit on it multiple times. Like you're going to get forms, you're going to get things that is the first time you seeing that in your entire life. Right. And don't try to be a superhero and do all this stuff by yourself.
Cause you think you know what you're doing. Have someone else double check it like your advisor, just in case you're not thinking about what actually happens in the future with taxes or your 401k. Cause your mind is swimming with so many things and all you're really thinking about is that playbook. Not missing that next workout and getting to know people around the facility. So just be open, ask for help.
Riccardo Stewart (15:58): Well, to all of those who are getting drafted and have been drafted, congratulations. In and itself is an incredible feat, an incredible privilege. All the things we talked about, we have documented. And so if you want kind of that checklist or you have any questions, we would love for you to reach out to us. You can reach us at 602-989-0022. 602-989, excuse me, 5022. And until the next episode, see you guys later.