A former NFL WAG revealed that being the partner of a professional football player is not always as prestigious and glamorous as it seems.
Bryce Watts Hansen, wife of former NFL free agent Chad Hansen, lifted the lid on their family’s finances and exposed the less visible side of the WAG lifestyle.
After playing for the Cal Golden Bears, Chad was selected by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He played in 17 games as a rookie before being waived by the team in September 2018.
In a TikTok video, Bryce outlined the little-known realities and struggles that free agents and their families face, mainly around their finances.
“He was on eight different NFL teams,” Bryce says in the video, explaining, “That means eight different contracts signed and broken.”
She also noted that NFL payouts are “good money no matter what.”
Bryce Watts Hansen explained the less visible side of being an NFL WAG in a TikTok video
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Bryce admitted that she “knows the ropes” with unexpected waivers that often lead to relocation. “You’re a professional mover,” she joked. “Six different states, eight different teams.”
“I know how to get a flight [and] moving all our stuff. It’s kind of like an expense that you have to eat,” she explains. “It’s like all those little things you like have to happen in your head.”
In light of Chad’s recent retirement, Bryce acknowledged that they “all understand” that they are blessed and in a great position, while “the money is nothing to scoff at” in the NFL. Still, she wants to ‘continue the conversation’.
“It’s interesting because it’s something I didn’t know,” Bryce said of her past self, who “thought NFL players are millionaires.” She added, “That would have been really great if that was the case, if we were one team and all that stuff. But you know, that’s just not the reality for everyone.”
One of the factors she noted is the differences in NFL contracts. Bryce explained that contracts differ depending on the team, player, position and other details. For her high-recipient husband, consistency was not guaranteed.
“That means eight different contracts being signed and broken,” Bryce says in her TikTok video. While noting that “it’s good money” regardless of whether he’s signed to a team’s “practice squad” or “active roster,” Bryce reiterated, “These contracts are not guaranteed.”
‘He signed a contract. A few months later you get nothing, especially if you sign at the beginning of the offseason and get cut during the offseason,” Bryce explained. “You don’t see any of that money because you haven’t played over and over again, you haven’t gone to practice.”
Chad Hansen played for eight different teams in the NFL after being drafted out of Berkley
Bryce destroyed their finances during Chad’s time in the NFL as they moved from city to city
Beyond the contractual inconsistencies, she noted the relocation costs associated with the constant and unpredictable moves from team to team.
At one point, Bryce admitted that they were paying for three different rents at the same time.
“It was a little bit of ignorance on our part, but we also couldn’t really prepare for that situation,” she explained.
“He had just signed, renewed his lease on his home in New Jersey and then released along with New Jersey after being drafted the year before,” Bryce recalled. “You have this assumption in your head that if you get drafted, they’ll invest in you for at least that first contract you have.”
In Chad’s rookie year, Bryce recalled being fired shortly after signing the lease on their new home. He was then picked up by the Patriots, forcing them to move to Foxborough, Massachusetts.
“I was actually looking for a place in Foxborough where we could say,” recalls Bryce, who says, “The day I came back and said, ‘Hey, I actually got a few places that I thought were pretty cool ‘. he told me he had been released.”
“Moving is not cheap, and often, like us, you want certainty,” Bryce adds.
Hansen was drafted by the New York Jets and played in 15 games before being released
“I think we were at Atlanta for a month and a half — and I think it made about $10,000 total to move there and move all our stuff there,” she says. Random little things that you don’t really think about… that’s really where the costs came into play for us, especially the move.”
After explaining other factors such as having to stay in hotels for certain periods of time and investing the money they have, Bryce praised Chad for being steadfast and being smart with his money.
“I’m giving it to my husband,” she says in the TikTok. “He’s a boring spender, but he’s very smart at what he did because it allowed us to do all these things, like when he wasn’t on the team consistently and then joined the Texans in 2020.”
During his NFL career, Chad made 26 receptions for 330 yards and a touchdown. After leaving the NFL in 2022, he played for the DC Defenders and St. Louis BattleHawks in the XFL.