Valentine Holmes could be earning less than $6 a day as he chases his NFL dream
Valentine Homes would be earning at least $800,000 a season playing rugby league. Instead, he could be earning less than $6 a day in his chase for American football glory.
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NRL star Valentine Holmes could earn a miserly $5.47 a day in his chase for American football glory.
That would be a stunning pay cut from the $800,000 a season — plus additional representative payments — he could earn playing rugby league.
Although Holmes, 23, is expected to use the International Pathways Program to launch his NFL career, he has been urged to spend a year in the American college system, which is amateur and forbids commercial sponsorships for players.
The former Cronulla and Queensland fullback would be given a dormitory bed, free food, team-issued gear and an annual stipend of between $2000 and $5000 to cover costs.
That equates to a daily allowance of between $5.47 and $13.70. In comparison, Homes could pocket around $2500 a day playing in the NRL.
“College is completely amateur,” said NFL expert Dick Fain, who works on Seattle television and radio.
“You get your school paid for, your room and board paid for, your food paid for and a little bit of stipend.
“He would be potentially sacrificing a year of making any money. It would cost him money and it’s not a professional lifestyle but, in the long run, it might work out better for him.”
US college dormitory rooms are modest, most measuring around 3.5m x 3.5m.
And some of the students staying in them go to bed hungry because they are unable to afford extra food.
“At 23, he could enrol in a university and play a year in college,” Fain said.
“He would still get a lot of publicity and would still get a lot of fans at the games and it’s a ticket to the NFL draft.
“Ninety-nine per cent of all players who enter the NFL come out of college football.
“We get more fans for college games than we do for NFL games.
“He would still get his name out there instead of trying to go at it in total obscurity and be an undrafted free agent that just tries to walk into a camp and make the team.
“To have success at the college level for a year, then the scouts would have seen you and then you have the potential to be drafted the next season. He is still young enough to do that.
“The college way is the way to go. Get your name out there and get people fired up about you. People will then know his name.
“There are a lot of Aussies coming here, particularly kickers and punters, that are playing college football.”
Fain, who also appears on Sky Sports Radio’s Big Sports Breakfast in Australia, said Holmes would earn $500,000 at best next year, even if he bypassed college and earned a spot on an NFL franchise’s 53-man roster.
Holmes could try to trial like Jarryd Hayne did to make an NFL roster, but stats show that path is incredibly difficult.
Only three to four per cent of college players make the NFL.
“If he truly is electric on the college side of things, he could get drafted and, if drafted, he then gets some guaranteed money,” Fain said.
“Only the top 25 per cent of NFL players make really, really good money.
“The bottom 75 per cent are making anywhere from a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year to a couple of million dollars.
“Maybe if Hayne had stuck it out a little bit longer it would have popped for him.
“Again though, he was thrust into a pretty difficult situation because he was more of a veteran.”
Former South Sydney lower-grade forward Jordan Mailata, who is now an offensive tackle with the Philadelphia Eagles, has encouraged Holmes to follow his passion.
“Yes, he will definitely be able to make the transition,” Mailata told Macquarie Radio. “He’s a worthy athlete.
“There might be another Jarryd Hayne situation but, honestly, you can’t compare the two. They are in two different situations.
“Their circumstances are different. They are both approaching the NFL in a different way.”
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Originally published as Valentine Holmes could be earning less than $6 a day as he chases his NFL dream
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