<prompt> Human: Thought this was a neat interview with Rob Gronkowski, an American football star who plays for the New England Patriots:Gronks got a reputation as a bit of a meathead, but hes actually a pretty good role model for financial responsibility. I thought this interview he did recently highlighted some interesting issues that pop up for people in his situation. Remember, even though these guys make tons of money, a large percentage of them have financial issues, especially after their playing career ends.Gronk talks about the fact that he saves all of his NFL salary and lives off endorsement money still probably a very large amount of money, and a recent splurge on his first piece of pricey jewelry. But this story was particularly interesting to me because it shows that old adage of penny wise, pound foolish: I had this one guy this year, actually, he came up to me, hes like, hey Rob, you got a Hummer, I see it, I want to get a Hummer, but my agents telling me I shouldnt get a Hummer. Costs too much, its like 22 grand, hes like, what do you think? Youve got a Hummer, how much gas does it take and everything? And I was like, dude, if you want a Hummer, you played one year, you can get a Hummer. Its 22,000, its not like youre buying a 120,000 luxury. You can pay for the gas or whatever. And I was like, what are you doing right now? Whats your car? Hes like, oh I got a rental. Im like, how much are you paying for the rental a week? And hes like 400. I was like, dog, hurry up and buy that damn Hummer! That was crazy, that was mind-blowing to me. Hes paying 400 a week for the last 6 weeks, Im like, dude, hurry up and go put the down payment on the Hummer.The guy was paying the equivalent of 20,800year, AKA pretty much the same cost as the Hummer, and worrying about gas and upkeep. Yeah, hes probably better off getting a used Toyota or something for even less money, but that rental situation is ridiculous, and a 22,000 car is well within reach of a guy whos playing at least a couple years in the NFL.I know that I can obsess sometimes over buying nice things, because I feel like its a big splurge for something that could be a luxury. But if the alternative is costing you more, you might as well just buy the damn Hummer...Assistant: Im confused as to how any person would think that a 22k car would be unreasonable for anyone on an NFL salary. This seems kind of silly even from a PF standpoint. Average salary for the lowest paying team last year 49ers was 2 million.Human: These guys only earn that for a few years, though. If youre the average NFL player, you might make a few million over a three or four year career. Good money? Absolutely. But once youre done, youve got to make it last.I get why the guy was a little reticent. Better to be a little too frugal than the other way. But youre right, 22k is perfectly reasonable, and the big problem is that he spent over 10 of the value of the car he was thinking about buying over just 6 weeks!  <response>: If only more pro athletes were conservatively naive about what they can and cannot afford. 