Originally posted at
http://afrodaddy.com Let’s face it there aren’t too many way legitimate ways to get rich in America. In an earlier Survival Guide article I cited 4 primary ways to get rich: own a business, own property, be an investor, or become a celebrity. Many of our black youth do not take advantage of items 1, 2 and 3 and there are various societal and personal factors that make this true. Without enough role models within our families and within our communities it is hard to see oneself as a major business owner, a wall street investor or a real estate mogul like Donald Trump. Certainly many young black men and women have had success in these 3 areas and we salute those who have made it. It is my sincere hope that those who have become successful share their knowledge with our youth and mentor them to help develop a new generation of black leaders in the areas of finance and business. This post however talks about an option in the 4th category – becoming a celebrity.
Society has traditionally made opportunities in entertainment and sports available to African Americans. People of all cultures have appreciated the musical contributions of black people and from Duke Ellington to Denzel Washington to Oprah African Americans have been able to generate wealth in music television and movies – turning their superior skills into lucrative careers. In the area of sports the same thing has happened as we have shattered the color line and produced many great athletes from the groundbreaking Jackie Robinson to the contemporary LeBron James and Michael Vick. It seems that everybody today wants to be an NBA star, or a standout quarterback in the NFL, but too many black people do not truly understand the long odds of these dreams becoming reality.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to be an NBA or NFL star (brothers are not gravitating to baseball but there are reasons why). The fact is however that only 1 out of every 400,000 men make it to the NBA. The odds are similar for the NFL. Obviously the odds of becoming the star running back on an NFL team are much longer. With all these black, white and brown athletes chasing the same position why not chase a different position. What about the punter? This is the guy who kicks the ball after 4th down. He never gets hit. He makes about $1 million a year and he can have a long and injury-free career. One such person is Reggie Roby, an excellent Pro Bowl punter who played for 16 years in the NFL as one of the best punters in history. Currently there are no black punters in the NFL. Other than Roby and another excellent kicker Greg Coleman, there have only been a handful of black punters in the history of the NFL.
The point of this article is not to urge all of our youth to run out and become punters. The point is that our young black men and women need to look at alternate ways to achieve financial and professional goals. For every 100 young black men who didn’t make it as a running back or a quarterback I would bet big money that quite a few of them could have been the next Reggie Roby. All it takes is opening the mind to the possibility of becoming a punter instead of being the star of the football team. We as a people need to teach our youth that there are many options in life where we can use our skills to produce wealth and success.
If you are great with numbers and have a head for business don’t be a drug dealer. Use your skills to start a legitimate business.
If you are the leader of your “set†and/or run the neighborhood look at a career in management. Businesses need strong leaders.
If you know everything about your neighborhood because you’ve never left it, think about how you can buy up some properties and become a real estate developer, apartment manager, or a landlord, and finally
If you are a great athlete, instead of trying to be the next star running back, think instead about becoming a punter.
If you want to get rich all you have to do is just learn how to kick the ball.
Note: Reggie Roby filed for bankruptcy in 1993, presumably because he didn’t manage his money wisely. Don’t make the same mistakes
To see more articles like this, please visit The AfroBlog at
http://afrodaddy.com/blog
Posted By: Darrell Garrett
Monday, March 21st 2011 at 7:50PM
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