How Kareem Jackson Spent His First $1M in the NFL

I bought myself a Range Rover,

and I actually got it used.

Smart investment, used Range Rover, 70k.

What's up, GC?

I'm Kareem Jackson

and this is how I spend and save my first million dollars.

[upbeat music]

From Macon, Georgia, a little, small town.

I grew up with both parents, an older sister.

Where I'm from, it's just all about family.

Every Sunday, we'd all gather at my grandma's house

for dinner after church.

One summer, I had a job after my 11th grade year.

I'm a sneaker guy, so I've always been into sneakers.

So, I got a job working at Foot Locker.

I really just wanted to work there for the discounts.

The Jordan releases, I would just hide them in the back

and stuff until it was time for that 50% off.

It was strictly sneakers for me.

I shop quite a bit.

I was fortunate enough

to have two parents that did whatever they had to do

to provide for me and my sister.

So you know, if things came out,

they made sure I didn't go without them if I wanted them.

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I went to the University of Alabama where I played football.

My junior year, we had a great season

and playing in National Championships and stuff.

So, we knew then that we was gonna have

a couple guys get drafted.

I just wanted to get to a point where you don't have

to window shop, you can just go in the stores

and pretty much get what you want.

After my combine, I pretty much knew I was a lock

to be a first round pick.

And after that, you know,

it's just pretty much just sitting back

and just waiting to see what was gonna happen

as far as the draft.

I was excited.

I mean, for me, it was everything I dreamed of.

Can't beat it.

You can't beat it, man.

My rookie deal, I think it was five years,

about ten million.

[chill music]

It felt great.

You go from being in college and, you know,

it being a struggle, and pretty much window-shopping,

to, you know, you getting drafted first round

and now you all of a sudden have millions of dollars

that, you know, you can pretty much do any

and everything that you always wanted to do.

It was a great feeling.

At that age, coming into that much money,

you want to save as much as possible because, you know,

you never know what's gonna happen, you know,

after year one, year two, or year three.

So, that second deal, you know, it pretty much,

you know, sets you up.

[chill music]

All right, we talked about how I saved my money,

now let's talk about how I spend my money.

[upbeat music]

My first payday, I purchased a Rolex,

the regular gold presidential.

I definitely wanted to get a nice timepiece for myself,

something that was gonna be timeless, 30k.

Rolex, 30k.

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After the Rolex, I did quite a bit of shopping,

sneakers, jeans, what,

I mean pretty much changing my entire wardrobe.

To upgrade my wardrobe, at least 20.

[Interviewer] Who's the best-dressed player you got

to play with?

Can I nominate myself?

I say in Houston, Andre Johnson and Jonathan Joseph.

When it came to, you know, the fashion,

those two guys are definitely, you know,

definitely came with it.

The worst, man, my man Antonia Smith.

He was just into a lot of the Western theme.

So, he would come with the cowboy hats, the cowboy boots.

That was just his style, though.

He's from Oklahoma.

That's just what he did.

But you know what?

It wasn't, you know, what I was into.

But like I say, everybody has their own style.

Upgrading my closet, 20k.

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I actually got a couple little pieces made

for me and my family, just some small, like,

iced-out, like, Alabama jerseys that

the same jeweler did for me and my parents.

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30k for chains for myself and my family.

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My birthday's in April.

The draft's in early April.

So, I threw myself a draft slash birthday party.

The party was in my home town.

I rented out this club.

I ended up getting an artist to come, like, perform.

And the thing about it, I had a good relationship

with the owner, and I got the family and friends discount,

maybe about 20k.

Birthday and draft party, 20k.

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I bought myself a Range Rover

and I bought my mom a Range Rover, as well.

I actually got it used, maybe about 70k.

Smart investment, used Range Rover, 70k.

[upbeat music]

Range Rover for my mom, I got hers brand new.

So, hers was about 120.

It was a surprise.

She had no clue.

[upbeat music]

Range Rover for my mom, 120k.

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I've heard the horror stories of rookie dinners.

One of my best boys had just got drafted the year before me.

And he told me at his rookie dinner,

the entire team was there.

Everybody was ordering steaks to-go,

they was taking bottles to-go, just all kind of stuff.

And so for me, I'm like, oh my God.

Once it came around, you know, the rookie dinner,

just to know that it was just gonna be the DBs,

that was a relief in itself.

So, I got off easy.

I'll say a light 9,000 compared

to some of there other stories that I've heard.

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Rookie dinner for the DBs, 9k.

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My rookie year, I took all my boys

to the Dominican Republic for about four days.

I think it was about five of us.

Stayed at a nice resort, you know, had some great food,

got out and, you know, had some fun.

To get out in the DR, and be amongst the locals

and things like that, for them to embrace us,

you know, was a lot of fun.

Trip to the DR with my boys, 20k.

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Maybe like the last five or six years

when I really just started to go crazy with the tattoos.

My third or fourth year, maybe, I started

to do tattoo parties.

Pretty much around March Madness,

'cause we would watch the basketball games all day.

I would fly a tattoo artist in.

And then some of the guys off the team

would just come in and out.

And we would just get tattooed all day

and just watch basketball all day.

[upbeat music]

Tattoos over the course of my career, 30k.

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Bought a home in Houston.

So, this is my first home I ever purchased,

when I got drafted.

Went one weekend before we actually had to report,

saw about, maybe ten houses in a day.

And finally, I got to this one house

and just kind of fell in love with it.

And actually it is the house that I'm still in today.

You know, I felt like it was, you know, it was me.

So, I had a chance to purchase it.

And like I say, in Houston, you get a lot of bang

for your buck there, so it was foreclosed, as well.

So, I got lucky in that aspect.

It was 600k.

First house in Houston, 600k.

[upbeat music]

I'm just now getting to the point where I'm looking

to find a lot and possibly build my retirement home

in Houston.

I love it there, the weather.

There's great opportunity.

Obviously I built a lot of relationships there.

My kids are there, so just looking forward

to just being back there, and you know, continue to live

and become a Houstonian.

You can't beat it there, the nightlife,

you know, great restaurants.

Like I said, a lot of opportunity.

You know, pretty much a one-stop-shop right there

in Houston.

Whatever you need, whatever you want,

even if you don't want it, it's there.

And honestly, because I got such a great deal on my place,

I had a chance to kind of go through it,

and gut it, and doing some different things in the man cave.

Getting a chance to do that,

and obviously the audio equipment and all that stuff,

that'll put me well over a million.

But, that had to be done.

Interior decorating, 250k.

[upbeat music]

I have my own charity.

It's the Kareem Jackson Foundation,

and it benefits women with breast cancer

and kids with pediatric cancer.

Growing up, my mom was a two-time breast cancer survivor

and my sister is a leukemia survivor.

So, I know firsthand the effect it takes on,

you know, the families.

For me as a kid growing up, I spent a lot of time

in the hospital with my sister, you know,

going to school from the hospital, getting out of school,

going back there, going to practice, football practice,

basketball practice, and things like that.

For me, you know, I told myself, well once I get

in a position where I can affect some families that's,

you know, being affected by, you know,

these terrible diseases, I'm definitely,

definitely gonna jump at that opportunity.

And I created the Kareem Jackson Foundation.

Like I said, some things, obviously, had to be done,

the house, and you know, getting a car like that.

But, I think I had enough fun spending time with friends

and getting a chance to do some things I've always wanted

to do, the chance to shop, you know, as much as I wanted to,

purchasing jewelry, and obviously, you know,

doing something for my mom.

For me, I definitely feel, I feel good about, you know,

the way I spent my first million.

I would suggest that, you know, you get a financial advisor.

Obviously, I feel like y'all need to come up

with a game plan as best fits you and just try to stick

to it as much as possible.

That's it, you guys.

I appreciate you watching and taking the time.

Catch you on the football field on Sundays.

[chill music]