Whoever from the players participate in the Super Bowl, he gets a bonus by the NFL.
Tom Brady and every member of the Patriots earned $107,000 this year for beating the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in overtime. That’s just an addition to earning $27,000 for the Divisional round and $49,000 for the Conference championship.
Brady’s payout for winning the 2001 season Super Bowl was “only” $63,000. For 2003 and 2004 it was $68,000, and $97,000 for 2014. (Don’t you wish your salary would increase at the same rate?) That brings his Super Bowl earnings alone to $403,000.
That’s a lot of money — even for Tom — yet I’m willing to bet the money doesn’t make him happier.
Sure, money is important. Money does a lot of things. (Arguably the most crucial is that it affords choices.)
But beyond a certain point, money doesn’t make people happier. After about $75,000 a year, money doesn’t buy more (or less) happiness. “Beyond $75,000…higher income is neither the road to experience happiness nor the road to relief of unhappiness or stress,” say the authors of one study.
They go on to say: “Perhaps $75,000 is the threshold beyond which further increases in income no longer improve individuals’ ability to do what matters most to their emotional well-being, such as spending time with people they like, avoiding pain and disease, and enjoying leisure.”
And if you don’t buy that, here’s another take: “The materialistic drive and satisfaction with life are negatively related.” (Or, in layman’s terms, “Chasing possessions tends to make you less happy.”)
Think of it as the “bigger house” syndrome. You want a bigger house. You need a bigger house. So you buy it. Life is good…until a couple months later, when your bigger house has somehow become just your house.
In short order, new always becomes the new normal.
“Things” provide only momentary bursts of happiness. Beyond a certain point, money only provides momentary bursts of happiness. To be happier, don’t chase as many things. Chase the things that matter more to you: goals, dreams, shared experiences.
For Brady, the money and fame are by-products of chasing what he loves. He’s restructured his contracts and taken less money in order to free up cap space to pay other players. (For the opposite approach, see the 2013 contract of Flacco, Joe.).
