A former NFL WAG has 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 her family's finances and exposed the lesser-seen 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 appeared in 17 games as a rookie before being waived by the team in September 2018.
In a TikTok video, Bryce discussed the little-known realities and struggles free agents and their families face, primarily with their finances.
“He was on 8 different NFL teams,” Bryce says in the video, explaining, “That means eight different contracts are being signed and broken.”
He also noted that the NFL salary is “good money no matter what.”
Bryce Watts Hansen Lifted the Lid on the Lesser-Seen Side of Being an NFL WAG in TikTok Video
Bryce admitted that he “knows the drill” with unexpected resignations often leading to relocation. “You're a professional mover,” he joked. “Six different states, eight different teams.”
'I know how to get a flight (and) move all our stuff. It's like a cost you have to bear,” he explains. “It's like all those little things you like have to develop in your head.”
In light of Chad's recent retirement, Bryce acknowledged that “everyone understands” that they are blessed and in a great position while “money is nothing to scoff at” in the NFL. Still, he wants to “have a conversation beyond that.”
“It's interesting because it's something I didn't know,” Bryce said of his past self, who “thought NFL players are millionaires.” He added: “It would have been great if that was the case, if we were one team and all that.” But you know, that's not the reality for everyone.”
Among the factors he highlighted are differences in NFL contracts. Bryce explained that contracts differ depending on team, player, position and other details. For her wide receiver husband, consistency wasn't guaranteed.
“That means eight different contracts are being signed and broken,” Bryce says in his TikTok video. While noting that “it's good money” regardless of being signed to a team's “practice squad” or “active roster,” Bryce reiterated that “these contracts are not guaranteed.”
'He signed a contract. Then a couple of months later, you don't get anything, especially if you sign at the beginning of the offseason and then get cut during the offseason,” Bryce explains. “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 analyzed their finances during Chad's time in the NFL as they moved from city to city.
Aside from contractual inconsistencies, he highlighted the moving expenses that come with constant, unpredictable movement from one team to another.
At one point, Bryce admitted that they were paying three different rents at once.
“It was a bit of ignorance on our part, but we couldn't prepare for that situation either,” he explained.
“He had just signed, renewed the lease on his place in New Jersey and then was released in New Jersey after being drafted the year before,” Bryce remembers. “You have the assumption in your head that if they draft you, they will be investing in you at least for the first contract you have.”
In Chad's rookie year, Bryce recalled that he was fired shortly after signing the lease on his new residence. He was then picked up by the Patriots, forcing them to move to Foxborough, Massachusetts.
“I was actually looking for a place in Foxborough to talk,” recalls Bryce, who says, “The day I came back and said, 'Hey, I have a couple of places that I thought were really interesting.'” He told me he had been released.'
“Moving is not cheap and many times, as in our case, what is needed is security,” adds Bryce.
Hansen was drafted by the New York Jets and appeared in 15 games before being released.
“I think we were in Atlanta for about a month and a half, and I think overall it ended up costing us about $10,000 to move there and move all of our stuff there,” he says. Random little things that you don't really think about… that's where the costs really add up for us, especially moving.'
After explaining other factors like having to stay in hotels for certain periods of time and investing the money they have, Bryce praised Chad for having a strong attitude and being smart with his money.
“I'll give it to my husband,” she says on TikTok. “He's a boring spender, but he's very smart to do what he did because he allowed us to do all these things, like when he wasn't on the team consistently and then he came to the Texans in 2020.”
Over the course of 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.