Dave’s Football Blog

Today is a somewhat historic day here at the blog. Today is the first day that I will watch NFL football in high definition from the comfort of my own living room. Yes, friends, no more needing to go to sports bars and friends’ houses for that sweet, sweet HD. A Panasonic 42″ flat-panel plasma display now sits where my old 27″ tube set used to be, and the picture quality is fantastic.

And the best part about it? I didn’t buy it. It was a Christmas gift.

Sure, I did have to buy all my HDMI cables and throw $100 at DirecTV to get my set-top box upgraded, and my satellite bill will jump as well, but the TV itself? Didn’t cost me a dime.

There’s a lesson in this for Chris Johnson. Going into the final week of the NFL regular season today, the Tennessee Titans running back needs 128 yards to reach 2,000 rushing yards in a single season. Johnson, however, may or may not be hedging on the gifts he buys his linemen this year. Last year, he bought his linemen 55″ flat-screen HDTVs for helping him gain 1,200 yards. This year, he reportedly said he would buy them all cars — except then he said he wouldn’t.

“I never promised any cars. I said the offensive linemen wanted cars if I got 2,000 yards. I never promised anything like that. I’ll have to think of something nice.”

You can imagine why he’d be hesitant. Even if he only spends $25K on each of his five starting linemen, that’s a $125K outlay — no small chunk of change, even for the future first pick in every fantasy draft next season.

This is proof, however, that Johnson has yet to learn the first rule of being rich: Don’t spend your own money to get stuff.

This is how rich people stay rich. They get other people to buy stuff for them. You think those Hilton and Kardashian girls spend their own money on those expensive clothes? Hell, no. They convince designers that they have influence in the marketplace, and those designers fall all over themselves to give them free stuff.

Take a look at Malcolm Glazer. When it came time for him to buy Manchester United, he didn’t spend a dime of his own cash. He financed the whole deal, and he’s letting the fans pay for it. Sure, the fans aren’t happy about it, but did that keep them away from Old Trafford today for a 3rd-round FA Cup tie? Of course not. Glazer knows the fans aren’t going to stop supporting a club that’s in contention for major and minor trophies every year. Why not let those fans buy the club for him?

(Of course, the fans won’t be there for a 4th-round FA Cup tie, but there you go.)

Johnson is on the verge of becoming only the sixth running back in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season. That’s easily worth at least a million in endorsement cash. That is the money that would pay for those Escalades for his linemen, and there would be plenty left over to help him through the seemingly inevitable 2011 work stoppage. All he has to do is show up for a few commercials, and voila! The linemen get theirs, Johnson keeps his paychecks, and everyone’s happy.

That’s how you do it in the 21st century, folks. You build your reputation, and other people will pay for it. 2,000 yards is all the reputation Johnson needs to get that sweet, sweet endorsement cash — and if he can’t turn 2,000 yards into seven figures, he needs a new agent. The economy might be bad, but it’s not that bad.